Will expansion of dairy farming impact sustainability?

Following the milk quota abolition in 2015, dairy farming in Ireland is expanding in line with the growing global demand for high-quality dairy produce. As Ireland has committed to delivering a 50 % increase in dairy production before the year 2020, the Sustainable Dairy Assurance Scheme (SDAS) and Dairy Sustainability Ireland have been established to ensure that expansion can proceed in a sustainable manner.

The SDAS is an independently verified and internationally accredited programme, which is now being implemented on effectively all of Ireland’s 18,000 dairy farms. It sets out requirements for best practice on Irish dairy farms in relation to animal welfare, land management, biosecurity, safe farming practices and the production of safe milk. It also provides a framework for measuring the continuous improvement of each participating farmer, recording and monitoring sustainability credentials at farm level.

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By 2017 approximately 85 % of dairy farmers were already certified members of the scheme, with the aim of reaching the 100% target by the end of 2018.