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Producing winter milk means significantly higher feed costs and impacts negatively on lifestyle compared to other agri sectors and other systems of milk production.
For any business to sustain these two significant costs, they must be rewarded to continue producing milk out of season. As the National Milk Agency report suggests, we are big drinkers of fresh milk in Ireland all year round, so some supply is necessary.
The majority of milk in the Republic is produced on contract and the best advice for farmers is to only produce what contract volumes you have so that you maximise the bonus for the level of output over the winter period.
The next generation of dairy farmers are just not going to continue to produce milk because that is what has been done for the last 30 years. They are asking questions of their business, comparing to the best industry targets, and setting their own benchmarks so that they can survive in business.
Low or fluctuating output prices drive this change. For years, winter milk farmers felt they required a different cow for producing milk all year round. More and more, the realisation is they need a fertile, high-milk-solids cow that will last in the herd.
The processing sector needs to send the right signal to farmers and cannot expect them to invest in farmyards, extra labour and milking facilities without clear signals on what they want from the supplier base.
More and more young farmers are comparing to other lifestyle choices and often that doesn’t involve milking cows 365 days a year.
As herd size continues to grow, the proportion of winter milk in many herds is getting less and less and hence coming more under the spotlight. The winter milk industry is at a crossroads and farmer leaders and the industry must plan for the future or the slow steady slide out of winter milk will continue.
Irish liquid milk market in numbers
Liquid milk industry road map required to ensure it continues
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