The opportunities and challenges facing dairy farmers were addressed at the Teagasc National Dairy Conference, which is taking place in Limerick Racecourse, County Limerick today, Wednesday, 27 November 2024.
In his opening remarks, Teagasc Director, Professor Frank O’Mara said; “2024 was in many ways another tough year for dairy farmers, albeit it is ending on a good note with increases in milk prices and good autumn grazing conditions. Bad weather in the spring which continued into the summer led to a tough year for grazing and for conserving winter fodder. All in all, 2024 should see a good recovery in dairy farm incomes from the lows of 2023. Our economists will present their estimates for 2024 farm incomes next week.”
Professor O’Mara continued; “Another important area is climate change, and some good progress is being made in reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from agriculture. The EPA reported that emissions from agriculture fell by 4.6% in 2023, and that trends in Q1 2024 indicated a further drop of 2.4%. It is important to recognise that the actions of farmers have had a big effect. Chief among these are the reduction of 30% in chemical nitrogen usage over the last two years and the switch to protected urea, with indications suggesting it made up about 27% of straight nitrogen usage in 2024.”
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