Preparations are in full swing for Dairy Day 2024, an event for dairy farmers and those involved in the dairy sector, organised by the Irish Farmers Journal.

Dairy Day has been running since 2017, albeit the event went online in 2020 due to the pandemic and when it returned to an in-person event in 2023 the venue changed to Pairc Ui Chaoimh, in Cork and that is where this year's event is going to take place on 21 November from 9am to 5pm.

For those that haven’t been before, Dairy Day is a hybrid event between a trade show with commercial exhibitors and an information sharing or conference style event with talks and seminars running across three stages throughout the day.

Visitors to the event are free to roam around the trade stands or sit down and listen to the talks at their own leisure.

There is full on-site catering and last year there was over 3,000 farmers in attendance through the course of the day.

Getting in

While the doors to Supervalu Pairc Ui Chaoimh open at 9am, those attending are free to arrive at any time throughout the day, with the doors closing at 5pm.

Free parking is available at the new ‘Live at the Marquee’ site adjacent to the stadium, which is a five-minute walk away from the entrance to Dairy Day but a free shuttle bus will be in operation for those that want to take it.

Tickets to the event are €20 per person, but subscribers to the Irish Farmers Journal will get a complimentary ticket and regular readers to the print edition of the Irish Farmers Journal will get a discount code in the next two editions which they can redeem for a reduced ticket price online.

The talks

In a new development for 2024 there are going to be three stages for talks and discussions. Each of these sessions will be taking place at the same time, so those in attendance will have decisions to make as to what sessions they want to hear the most.

Each session will cover a topic or relevance to Irish dairy farming with experts from Ireland and overseas and farmers adding value to the conversation.

These topics include global dairy market outlook with insights from Ornua and Bord Bia and an international dairy farming outlook with perspectives from New Zealand dairy farmer Corrigan Sowman and Dutch dairy farmer Auko Sikkenga.

The whole subject of profitability from dairying has come into sharp focus over the last two seasons. To flesh these issues out further, Laurence Shalloo from Moorepark and Cork dairy farmer Mike Bermingham will go through real figures from 2024 and a budget for 2025.

The future of milk processing in Ireland in light of falling milk supplies nationally and an over capacity in milk processing facilities will be discussed with co-op chairpersons.

The whole subject of slurry storage and slurry storage capacity is one that is not going away. Pat Tuohy from Teagasc, who is completing an analysis of slurry storage requirements on Irish farms will present data on his findings to date.

Pat will be joined by Martin Merrick, buildings specialist with the Irish Farmers Journal to outline the costs and options when it comes to building new slurry storage.

There will also be sessions on family farming; why we are not growing the same level of grass, including a discussion on protected urea and clover; career paths for new starters in the dairy sector; enhancing the image of Irish dairy; the whole issue of calf welfare, water quality and lots more.

In addition to this there there will be over 80 trade stands in attendance from farm machinery right through to products and services that dairy farmers require.

Keep an eye on the Irish Farmers Journal for more updates and information on Dairy Day over the next few weeks.

Dairy Day is supported by Ornua, National Dairy Council and Bord Bia.