The third annual Butter Museum Lecture will take place in University College Cork (UCC), tonight at 8:00pm.

The unprecedented expansion in the Irish dairy industry in recent years and its implications for the wider farm sector will be the focus of the event.

The lecture, entitled ‘Ireland’s Dairy Sector, Leading Growth in Food and Drink‘ will be delivered by former Bord Bia chief executive, Aidan Cotter.

Cotter will outline the opportunities for dairy sales presented by the relentless growth in the global middle classes. He will also deal with ongoing geo-political and market challenges, and will examine the possible impact of continued dairy growth for Irish farming generally.

“Dairy expansion will coincide with a period of continued uncertainty, posed in particular by Brexit, price volatility in commodity markets, changing consumer needs, and the challenge of climate change,” said Cotter.

Meanwhile, a potential doubling of milk output from pre-quota levels suggests the sector will increasingly come to dominate, and in some cases even determine, fortunes elsewhere in the wider food and drink industry.

The lecture will be held in the Geography Lecture Theatre, at UCC. Fittingly, this was once UCC’s Dairy Science Lecture Hall where many of those who built the modern dairy industry were educated.

The Butter Museum’s annual lecture forms part of its ongoing programme of exhibitions and public events which promote the unique heritage and culture of the Irish dairy industry, and highlights the economic and historical significance of the sector.