Northern Ireland’s dairy sector must grow in a ‘sustainable’ way – DCNI

The dairy sector in Northern Ireland must be allowed to develop sustainably, according to a leading industry figure.

This increase must reflect an increase in milk volume while maintaining the high quality of the milk produced.

These are the clear views of Dairy Council for Northern Ireland (DCNI) chief executive Ian Stevenson.

“If an industry is not allowed to grow, the alternative is stagnation and decline. The dairy sector plays an extremely important role at the heart of Northern Ireland’s agri-food economy.

“Its further development must be planned in a completely strategic way.”

Six months into his new position, Stevenson highlights the challenge of sustainability as an issue that will dominate the minds of farmers and dairy processors in Northern Ireland for much of the next decade.

“Northern Ireland’s climate change legislation has been fully passed. The Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA) is expected to publish its first five-year climate action plan in the near future.

“The Sector Plan for Agriculture will accelerate the achievement of emissions reduction targets by the dairy industry and other sectors that contribute to production agriculture.

“In line with this, we are now seeing fundamental changes being introduced to the payments and support systems available for farming in Northern Ireland.

“The new solutions will have a significant impact on the dairy sector.”

Support measures

The changes to farm support mentioned by the Dairy Council representative include ending the current Basic Payment Scheme (BPS) and introducing a new Farm Sustainability Payment (FSP).

The new measures also include: the Soil Nutrient Health Scheme, the Ruminant Genetics Scheme, the Carbon Farming Scheme and a package of new innovation measures.

The Dairy Council is actively participating as an officially recognized stakeholder organization in the Agricultural Policy Stakeholder Group, contributing to the co-design of these new measures.

“It is essential that the needs of dairy farmers are fully taken into account when implementing these measures,” Stevenson said.

“The new support package for farms will also include the Agriculture with Nature program. Again, it is important that the dairy sector actively engages in the development of this program.”

Dairy sector

The Chief Executive made particular note of Northern Ireland’s inclusion in the Department’s (DEFRA) dairy demonstrator research call, which launched in November 2023.

This project will provide funding to researchers and their business clients to collaborate on the development and systemic testing of animal concentrate diets that reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) and ammonia emissions and phosphorus (P) losses to the environment on commercial farms in Northern Ireland.

The dairy demonstration project will also potentially include system testing of other non-dietary emissions reduction approaches applicable to dairy farms, ranging from animal productivity to genetics, manure, fertilizers and soil emissions, as well as energy and fuel constraints.

“In the coming years, important elements of change management will be built into all farm development, support and research-led research programmes.

“Many of these measures will have a direct impact on the dairy farming sector in Northern Ireland.

“A key role of the Dairy Council will be to ensure the delivery of innovative support schemes that reflect the real needs of dairy farmers in the coming years,” Stevenson explained.