There was a strong sense of positivity in the air today (Thursday, August 28) at the Milk Quality Farm Walk on the Kennedy Farm, Cahir, Co. Tipperary.

Dairygold chief executive, Michael Harte, declared at the start of the farm walk that "to date, it has been a good year for dairy farmers".

He also paid tribute to the Kennedy family, the 2024 National Winners of the National Dairy Council (NDC) and Kerrygold Quality Milk Awards, for their contribution to farming and their "outstanding achievements".

Aidan was keen to stress to visitors to the farm that "we didn't get here on our own".

"We've the best advisory in the world and a great team," he added.

On display was the Kennedys excellence in environmental sustainability, animal health and welfare.

The family's high standards when it comes to farm infrastructure, hygiene standards, soil, grassland management, and technical performance were also clear to see.

With a herd of 390 cows being milked through a state-of-the-art 50-unit rotary parlour, the Kennedy operation is large scale but remains very family focused.

All of the family are involved along with four farm staff and combined they have 50 plus years’ experience on the farm between them.

Harte today highlighted current positive dairy market returns which he said were thanks to stronger dairy markets and higher milk prices which have been driven by supply and demand.

He also pointed to "global milk supply constraints emerging" while "concurrently, demand for premium dairy products is increasing."

The Dairygold chief executive believes that the increasing demand for dairy is being "propelled by health and nutrition trends, growing world population and rising per capita income".

Commenting on these trends, he said that "we anticipate this will support stronger market returns in the longer term" and but added that uncertainty and volatility are still expected.

According to the National Dairy Council chief executive, Emma Walls, "the story of the dairy sector is a story of human endeavour".

She firmly believes that that is a story that needs to be told and also highlighted the positivity that radiates on the Kennedy farm - a farm which she outlined focused on quality milk production, family and building a business viable for the next generation.

"There are 17,000 individual [dairy] farm stories to be told" said Walls as she also outlined that Ireland's dairy sector has evolved into a remarkable contributor to the nation's economy, with €17.6 billion and providing 54,000 jobs to the economy.

Separately the chief executive of Ornua, Conor Galvin, also emphasised the work that the co-ops are doing, Teagasc and the contribution by farmers to achieve a more sustainable, grass based milk production.

Galvin said: "The world class operations that you see here today are what will give us confidence going into the future.

"We are producing the best milk in the world which is producing the best products in the world, and it allows Ornua to be really proud of what we have to offer".