Collaboration and leadership: the key attributes that will underpin the dairy sector in 2025

In their outlook for the year ahead, the Andersons Farm Business Consultancy predict a positive 12 months for dairy with most of the major UK processors continuing an investment programme. Whilst greater weather resilience and investment to comply with legislation are likely to be the immediate challenges, Andersons suggest that with demand for high quality milk and milk products appearing to remain strong, this should underpin a profitable future for those who remain in UK dairy production.

Within the Dairy Council for Northern Ireland, we know that, beyond producing milk, there are many more strands to our dairy sector that makes it such a vital component of the economy, our rural way-of-life and society as a whole.

Indeed, the contribution made by our sector to the nuts and bolts of Northern Ireland’s economy is vitally important. This can be measured in terms of output and job creation on farms but also in terms of the value-added contribution made by the industry at processing level and the beneficial impact all of this has on the wider economy.

And yes, all of this is significant. But it only scratches the surface in terms of what dairy is doing in terms of its ability to deliver so positively for rural communities, the countryside and the environment.

The future of every sector operating within the economy is now centred, to a significant extent, on one word: sustainability. It is a theme that has strong economic, environmental and social attributes. But more than this, it is the foundation stone on which change will be driven across every aspect of the economy and society. And the dairy sector will be no different in this regard.

Recent years have seen major changes in the way that local dairy farmers and processors have managed their businesses with the core objectives of improved efficiency and the implementation of enhanced environmental standards driving these improvements. The EU Sustainable Dairy programme which the Dairy Council operated in Northern Ireland between 2018 and 2023 helped to showcase and lead discussion on sustainability improvement initiatives.

But as 2025 stretches out before us, enhancing the momentum linked to these initiatives must take a quantum leap forward.

Set against this background the dairy sector is committed to telling its sustainability-related story up to this point while also showing strong leadership with regard to its future obligations in full collaboration with society as a whole.

And this process is already in motion. Last autumn saw the Paris Dairy Declaration on Sustainability agreed by the International Dairy Federation (IDF) and the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).

This agreement, the formal signing of which was attended by the Dairy Council in Paris, reinforces the dairy sector’s commitment to a sustainable transition of the entire value chain within all dimensions environmental, social and economic.

We now know that 2025 will be the Year of the Environment for Northern Ireland. It is anticipated that the Stormont Assembly and Executive will officially endorse a Climate Action Plan, covering the period 2023 to 2027.

The coming months will see the introduction of a new Nutrients Action Programme while further steps will be taken to address the challenges of ammonia and water quality.

All these developments will have a direct impact on the future development of the dairy sector at both farming and processor level.

Across each of these levels, the transition to a sustainable future for the dairy industry will require significant investment.

Significantly, Northern Ireland’s dairy processors are now offering sustainability payments to farmer suppliers directly linked to adoption of sustainable farming practices. This is a tremendous example of the leadership the industry is showing as it looks to the future.

But this cannot be a one-way process. The Stormont Executive must work closely with farmers and processors and their representative bodies, including the Dairy Council, to ensure that the dairy sector can meet its future production, environmental and social commitments.

In practical terms this means ensuring that agriculture as a whole is sustainably supported into the future. And fundamentally this means that government must officially recognise the key role that dairy plays at both an economic and societal level.

Our dairy sector has a strong footprint both in the Northern Ireland and cross border economies. This is one of its fundamental strengths.

Moreover, the entire industry is committed to leading the discussion about the important role it plays across every corner of society

This will embrace the quality nutritional products that our dairy farmers produce, the communities and rural landscapes they sustain, and the wide range of public goods that dairy farming and our milk processing businesses provide.

New opportunities to secure much greater levels of efficiency and financial sustainability at the farm gate will come on stream as the new year unfolds. A case in point is the new ruminant genetics programme that is expected to start rolling out in 2025. This will serve to provide dairy and other livestock farmers with the required tools and data, supporting them to make better, more informed breeding decisions.

The opportunity to genotype Northern Ireland’s entire cattle breeding herd would have seemed like a pipe dream only a few short years ago. But now, thanks to significant advancements in genomics and other fields of science and technology-based research, it is set to become reality.

Decisions taken in any context are only as good as the information they are based upon. In practical terms, the new genetics programme will represent an information superhighway, which will allow dairy farmers to implement herd breeding practices that deliver improvements in production, animal health, carbon efficiency and enhanced quality of output in a more sustainable manner. To say that all of this represents a good news story for our milk industry would be a considerable understatement

The development of the genetics’ programme was only made possible by the significant collaborative work between industry and government that underpins it. The Dairy Council is a founding member of Sustainable Ruminant Genetics, which is the industry side of the partnership.

New research will be a vital component of the dairy sector’s sustainable future, too. Recent months have seen key announcements by agriculture, environment and rural affairs minister, Andrew Muir MLA, confirming several collaborative projects all with a key research and development focus.

Notably this is new money, which will be used to fund key initiatives. These include: the development of the dairy demonstrator project, the shaping of new land use options and the identification of those measures that get us moving towards a carbon net zero position in the most efficient way possible.

A range of other projects will address the challenge of water quality and that of maximising biodiversity levels within our countryside.

All of this is extremely positive and will be further supported by the leadership and collaboration demonstrated by Northern Ireland’s dairy sector.