Last year’s trade mission to Iran by the Department of Agriculture, Bord Bia and 17 dairy companies appears to have paid almost immediate dividends for Ireland’s dairy exports. Figures released this week from the EU Commission show that Ireland exported 1,874t of butter into Iran in 2016, which is almost 19 times more than the 100t exported in 2015. While nothing like the sort of volumes of butter Ireland is shipping to countries like Germany (39,570t) or the UK (42,159t), it is still a very positive story to see international markets like this developing for Irish butter.