The European Dairy Farmers (EDF) congress has been taking place in Co. Cork over the last number of days.
This is the 30th EDF congress, which brings together more than 350 delegates from 28 countries.
Steffi Willie-Sonk from EDF praised the grass-based model used here in Ireland to produced milk.
However, Steffi also highlighted a number of potential limiting factors that the Irish dairy sector may face in the near future.
Her presentation looked at the Irish system compared those of other European countries. It is important to note that the data used during this presentation was based on EDF members only.
Green image
During her presentation, Steffi questioned whether our green image of having cows grazing is our licence to produce milk in the future.
She also looked at the Irish production system in terms of profitability compared to the European members of the EDF.
Steffi noted that Irish dairy farmers have a number of advantages, including a low-cost system, a low replacement rate and a – currently – good milk price.
This makes the Irish members some of the most profitable farmers within the group, while also receiving the lowest amount of direct payments, she explained.
“Irish dairy farmers make the cows do the work. They make the cows graze the grass rather then bring the feed to them,” she said.
“This helps with their costs as less land is need to produce the feed, with less fuel and less machinery [used too].”
Inflation
Steffi then spoke about inflation. She said it basically means that farmers need to produce more to earn the same as the previous year.
She believes this may be a limiting factor to the Irish dairy sector, particularly with regards to land availability.
Commenting, she said: “Access to land is key for Irish dairy farmers, land that they can graze with their cows.
“Land 10km is not very useful to Irish dairy farmers as it cannot be grazed by their cows.”
Steffi also noted that the Irish dairy farmers in the EDF group are paying some of the highest rental charges for land.
Continuing, she said: “We also see that the Irish dairy farmers in the group have some of the highest stocking rates within the group.
“This is because of their nitrates derogation – many of the farmers from other countries would have high stocking rates if allowed.”
Steffi’s presentation pointed out that Irish dairy farmers have made the most of their nitrates derogation, but that changes to this will be a major challenge for these farmers.
These changes could potentially lead to reduced stocking rates on farms and thus reduced profitability, she said.