Expansion is damaging animals, environment and stockmen

THE Indian summer of the last few weeks has resulted in excellent grass growth rates — and a significant improvement in the psychological well-being of farmers.

The past year has been extremely mentally testing for farmers.

It is time for a radical evaluation of the sustainability of expansion in grass-based dairy systems in Ireland.

In excess of 90pc of our milk-based produce is exported. The marketing campaign for this produce centres around healthy food harvested from healthy animals managed in a healthy ecosystem.

The industry here needs to focus on optimal health for people, animals and the environment.

We cannot allow our industry to succumb to the needs of a minority of individuals who wish to expand, to the detriment of the animals, the ecosystem and stockmen.

The Irish dairy sector has expanded rapidly since the abolition of milk quotas but milk prices here still lag behind our European neighbours.

Having surveyed 100 of our dairy clients in Ireland, it is clear that expansion is currently not on their agenda.

Will this change when the farm next door comes up to lease? I would hope that the answer will be ‘no’.

In a survey of 28 dairy farmers on the Dingle peninsula, only two successors intend to continue in dairy.

How can we allow vibrant rural communities be decimated?

Farmers are guardians of the environment. How can we have a vibrant tourist industry when you rob the environment of its rural infrastructure centred around agriculture?

The picture I paint need not be doom and gloom. The pillars of our dairy industry are the stockmen — and genetically, we have them in abundance.

However, we have created an environment where the interest and survival rate of new entrants to the industry is poor.

We have to make the business attractive for new entrants — to make sure they have a balanced lifestyle, financial reward for added-val- ue milk, and job satisfaction.

Also, new entrants will not learn the art of dairying sitting on tractors. Stockmanship skills are the kernel to healthy dairy cattle at all stages of their production cycle.

Our agricultural colleges are faced with too many students who pass through to avail of tax exemptions and grant aid for farm investment. This attitude doesn’t produce the sort of stockmen who are going to survive.

A radical re-shaping of our dairy industry is essential.

Our farms need to have a healthy ecosystem and healthy animals.

If we are serious about having true ‘added value’ to our dairy exports, we need to have objective, science-based monitoring of farming practices.

New entrants to dairy should be rewarded on the basis of these criteria.

Initially, this would restrict non-sustainable expansion.

But our ecosystem has to be paramount in producing healthy food.

There is a fear that a focus on healthy food may create a backlash associated with ‘unhealthy food’ entering the food chain.

Further refinement of milk pricing structure can be achieved using science-based assessment of the ecosystem, with commensurate rewards.

This assessment has to include soil health, soil worm population, water quantity and quality, herd health and reproductive performance using SmartScan technology of the reproductive tract.

In conclusion, Ireland has a unique position in Western Europe to add value to grass-based milk production systems.

Sustainability of the industry will in future depend on incentivising inherently gifted stockmen to enter and survive the industry in an environment where they want to be and are driven financially to focus on healthy animals, a healthy ecosystem and healthy food.

Dr Dan Ryan is a bovine reproductive physiologist and can be contacted on www.reprodoc.ie

WE NEED OBJECTIVE, SCIENCE-BASED MONITORING OF FARMING PRACTICES