Productivity, animal health and the environment

摘要

The production of milk and the sale of dairy products internationally is an extremely important part of the national economy. The agri-food and drink sector is estimated to be worth €13.6 billion to the Irish economy, accounting for 7,8% of gross national income and 7.9% of total employment, The dairy sector is estimated to be worth €4 billion to the Irish economy (Bord Bia, 2018) and it is a key contributor to the revenue of many farm-animal practices in Ireland. Recently, there has been a huge emphasis on expansion of Ireland's dairy exports. However, it is important that dairy production in Ireland is sustainable from an environmental point of view. With this in mind, many have pointed to the large increase (35%) in dairy cow numbers in Ireland since milk quota abolition as a significant contributor to our environmental footprint. Furthermore, since many farms in Ireland were traditionally small in size, many recently expanded herds don't have sufficient facilities or labour resources to deal with the increased cow numbers.