National Dairy Council Research Shows 71% Of Irish People Trust Irish Dairy Farmers To Take Care Of The Environment As EPA Figures Show 4.6% Reduction In Agricultural Emissions

• Trust score up 6% year-on-year
• Over 16,000 dairy farmers take part in sustainability initiatives
• 80% of Irish people think dairy can be part of a sustainable det
• 83% of Irish people think dairy is part of a healthy, balanced diet

New data from the National Dairy Council (NDC) – the farmer-funded, consumer-facing organisation promoting Irish dairy products and production – shows that over seven in ten Irish people now trust Irish dairy farmers to take care of the environment.

The results – which are up 6% on May 2023 and 1% on Feb 2024 – imply a greater public recognition of farmers’ actions to achieve environmental targets and are supported by yesterday’s EPA figures showing a 4.6% reduction in agricultural emissions in 2023.

Mark Keller, Interim CEO of the National Dairy Council, believes the figures are an indicator of genuine public support for the Irish dairy industry, its 17,500 family farms, the 55,000 jobs it supports and the €6.3bn export revenues it delivers to the Irish economy each year.

“Ireland’s dairy farmers are committed to improving their environmental sustainability and are employing new farming practices and technologies – such as soil sampling, low-emission fertilisers and GPS-guided fertiliser spreading – to achieve those goals. That the measures are having an effect is demonstrated by the reduction in agricultural emissions seen from yesterday’s EPA report”

At the same time – and against a background of heightened interest in, and awareness of, plant-based alternatives – 83% of Irish people believe that dairy products are part of a healthy, balanced diet – tallying with the Irish government’s recommendation of 3 servings of milk, cheese, or yoghurt a day. This figure is 4% up on May 2023 and 2% on Feb 2024.

Sustainable diets are those that are nutritious, environmentally-conscious, affordable, accessible, and culturally acceptable, and 80% of Irish people believe that dairy products can be part of a sustainable diet. This number has grown – despite increasingly vocal anti-meat and dairy sentiment – by 4% since May 2023 and 3% since February 2024.

“Ireland is an agricultural nation and dairying is a part of our heritage, with a history in Ireland of some 6,000 years. Like every sector, however, it is facing unprecedented challenges when it comes to its impact on the environment, and it has clear, stretch targets to meet.

“Sometimes, however, it feels as if more attention is paid to how we describe our efforts, rather than to what we’re actually doing. Technically, the Irish dairy production system is not wholly sustainable – alongside most other industrial sectors – but our farmer’s efforts to improve environmental performance while delivering consistently high-quality food should be applauded, not glibly dismissed as ‘greenwashing”.

Our consumer opinion research shows that Irish people across all age groups support dairy farmers and see dairy produce as an important part of their diet. There is always room to improve and the story of quality Irish dairy and its place on the world stage will continue to be told.

Mark Keller is available for interview and comment on these findings.

About the Research

This market Opinions online omnibus is the sixth wave of the process with research conducted among a nationally representative sample of n=1,000 adults in the Rep. of Ireland in June 2024. Quota controls are in line with AIMRO and CSO guidelines and applied to gender, age, social grade and region to ensure consistency.

[1] https://www.epa.ie/our-services/monitoring–assessment/climate-change/ghg/latest-emissions-data/