The Irish Farmers Journal and the Ulster Farmers’ Union have organised a one-day conference taking place this autumn which will consider the challenges that lie ahead for NI dairying farmers and key issues to ensuring future profitability.

Taking place on Thursday 12 October in the Seagoe Hotel, Portadown, the event will hear from a range of industry specialists who will highlight how the sector is changing, the policy environment around Brexit, the importance of on-farm efficiency and the factors that will drive profit.

The aim of the conference is also to open the discussion around future milk pricing, and how this might contribute to a more sustainable industry, less exposed to swings in global dairy markets.

While base milk prices are now generally in the range of 27p/l to 28p/l, just over a year ago, NI dairy farmers were in a serious loss-making situation, receiving base prices around 16p/l.

We will have more details on the conference in the coming weeks.