The Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Simon Coveney has said that the focus for the Irish dairy sector should be on adding value, rather than reducing output.
The minister was speaking during the launch of new specialised training courses for the dairy processing sector at University College Cork (UCC) today (Monday, June 19).
The post-graduate diploma and MSc qualifications in dairy technology and innovation are delivered through the Dairy Science Centre of Excellence by UCC and Taste4Success Skillnet.
The programmes provide pathways for skilled workers in the dairy sector to access life-long, work-integrated professional development opportunities in a flexible format.
“This initiative will integrate academic excellence and industry-needs to develop talent right across the dairy sector,” Minister Coveney said.
Dairy
Coveney, a former agriculture minister, said the dairy sector has travelled “an extraordinary journey since the abolition of milk quotas”.
8.8 billion litres of milk were produced in Ireland last year. Irish dairy exports reached a record €6.8 billion in 2022, making it the largest food and drink export category.
“The journey we need to take now for the next 10 years I think has to have a relentless focus on sustainability,” Minister Coveney said.
“Sustainability is not an optional extra. It’s not something that we do because of a moral obligation towards reducing emissions in the context of climate action, although that is important.
“This is about raw competitiveness in the future,” he said.
Speaking to Agriland, Minister Coveney said that the dairy sector now needs to focus on adding value, “rather than continuing the journey of increasing volume”.
“We’ve seen a significant growth journey in volume since the abolition of [milk] quotas. The removal of quotas was the right thing to do. It [has] allowed farm families across the country to actually grow to their potential in terms of the land that they have.
“Farmers have an obligation to make sure that they’re not overstocking and that they’re managing their land in a sustainable way.
“We’re there to help them do that, to talk to them about how to do it,” he added.
Coveney explained that the government is there to invest in universities like UCC to research things such as growing grass in the most sustainable way and managing herds in a way that is focused on nature, as well as output.
“I don’t think the focus should be on reducing output per se, when actually we can, in my view, continue to produce a lot of milk but do it in a sustainable way,” Coveney continued.
“I think the truth is that the kind of growth we’ve seen over the last number of years in output is not going to continue into the future.
“The focus now is on trying to turn the current volumes of milk production into the most valuable produce we can through processing and innovation and new product development and ensuring that we maintain high milk prices by doing that.
“But doing all of that in a way that’s sustainable and that’s not only something we have to say, it’s something we have to prove through measurement and science,” the minister said.