One third of dairy farmers to go in ten years

IRELAND – The Irish Agriculture and Food Development Authority, Teagasc, has predicted that more than one third of Irish dairy farmers will leave the industry by 2014.

It said that the current decline in numbers would continue, with 1,000 farmers leaving each year for the next ten years. The predictions were based on surveys carried out on Irish farmers.

In the last decade, the number of Irish dairy farmers has dropped substantially, from around 40,000 in 1993 to 28,000 now, while the number of dairy cows has stayed roughly the same. That has meant that the average dairy herd has doubled over the same period, with the average size almost 40 cows per dairy farm.

Exports of dairy products from Ireland are worth over