At the end of December 2009, the bovine population in Ireland was distributed between 123 500 herds of which 19 700 were dairy farms. In total, there were 6.5m bovine animals in the country, including 3.4m females and 300 000 bulls aged twelve monthsor over. (AIM 2009) [1]. Just over one million of these were dairy cows[2]. The milk from these cows was supplied to 32 cooperatives. Exports of Irish dairy products and ingredients were valued in the order of ?2.29bn. In 2010, total Irish milk output amounted to 5582m litres with an estimated value of ?1536m[3].Three of the key international players in the infant milk formula sector are located in Ireland, supplying 15% of the global requirement with a combined turnover of EUR 667m in 2008 [4].
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