Are water conservation methods enforced in dairy farming?

Although water conservation is not yet enforced in Ireland, methods are in place to discourage wasteful use of resources such as water-metering of public or group water schemes and the provision of agricultural water conservation grants. It is proposed that businesses and farms using in excess of 25,000 L of water per day will have to register use with the Department of Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government. In addition, there are various water conservation strategies, specific to agriculture, in place, such as rainwater harvesting, whereby rainwater is collected and then used as drinking water for livestock, for farm cleaning/maintenance purposes. Research has shown that water use in Ireland per unit of milk is among the lowest in the world with 6.4 L of water used per unit of milk. Coupled with the water scarcity index which reflects the availability of water in one region versus another Ireland performs well.

Extra Information:

Although not a requirement, as part of the Sustainable Dairy Assurance Standard (SDAS) auditing process farmers are questioned on their water use. This information feeds into the sustainability survey and which is allows Bord Bia to capture on a national scale water conservation practices adopted by Irish dairy farmers.