How sustainable is Ireland’s dairy sector?

Ireland's dairy farming, known as the grass to food way, is sustainable and unique, contributing only 10% to the global milk supply. This system results in milk with a higher nutritional value, including more omega-3 fatty acids and conjugated linoleic acids. The milk treatment and separation process lead to various products like cream, butter, cheese, and powdered proteins, highlighting the efficiency and specialization of milk production.

Dairy has often been portrayed as being unsustainable, but when we look into Ireland’s grass to food way of dairying, it is unfair to make this assumption, considering how much product you can get from 20kg of dry matter (DM). Ireland is certainly producing milk in a sustainable way compared to other countries around the world, as only 10% of the global milk supply derives from grass-based systems. Irish dairy is therefore in a unique position, with the grass-based system adding great value to the products produced. There are a lot of discussions around milk and the carbon cost to produce it. It is often compared against other products unfavourably, as the number of different side streams that it can produce are rarely taken into account. Not only that, but the nutritional value of all of those side streams deliver the best possible dairy product for the consumer. Grass to food There is no doubt that Irish grass-fed cows produce more nutritious milk, as studies have shown that ...