New venue this year for Dairy Day as Tipperary folk flock to Cork

Dairy Day 2023, organised by The Irish Farmers Journal, supported by Bord Bia, NDC, and Ornua, has a range of excellent talks and seminars on technical farming, dairy markets and family farming.

This unique event takes place this year at Pairc Uí Chaoimh where the combination of over 70 commercial exhibitors alongside informative seminars and discussions will take place in the South Stand. 

There are two stages with talks running concurrently throughout the day from 9.30am to 3.30pm. Before the event gets underway, there will be a Breakfast Briefing for business leaders and media at 8.30am. 

There are also one-on-one clinic sessions throughout the day with experts available to answer farmer questions on issues such as nitrates, solar panels, TAMS III, farm schemes, and more.

The 5000 visitors at Dairy Day 2023 will enjoy an innovation session where five companies with new ideas for investment get to deliver their elevator pitch to the 'Dairy Dragons' in the hope of securing a virtual investment.

This will be one of the highlights of Dairy Day 2023, with innovation in the sector more important than ever given the changes across the industry since the last Dairy Day event in 2019.

Date & Venue:

Thursday 23 November 2023 from 9am – 5pm
Breakfast Briefing 8.30am 
Pairc Uí Chaoimh, Marina Road, Co. Cork, T12 PF30
 

Here is a flavour of some of the talks on the day:

Finding ways to cut costs: With current milk price 25c/l or 43% lower than this time last year and with costs remaining stubbornly high, this session will look at ways farmers can improve margin. Chaired by Aidan Brennan with guests Sean Cummins, a dairy farmer from Co Kilkenny, Dr Joe Patton, head of dairy advisory with Teagasc and Liam Hennessy, agri-manager with FDC.

Dealing with nitrates: Dairy farmers Enda Duffy (high band) from Co Monaghan and Conor O’Leary (medium band) from Co Cork will be joined by Dr. Laurence Shalloo of Teagasc to look at the impact of the reduction in stocking rate from 250kg N/ha to 220kg N/ha on their farms and what mitigation options they have.

 Actions for positive PR: Irish Country Living writer and dairy farmer Janine Kennedy chats to Zoe Kavanagh from NDC and dairy farmers Caroline Hanrahan and Shane Fitzgerald about what actions dairy farmers can take to protect the image of dairy farming and arm themselves with the facts on dairy.

Is AD an option?: With huge interest in renewable energy, the Irish Farmers Journal renewables editor Stephen Robb leads a discussion on the potentials and pitfalls of anaerobic digestion (AD) in rural Ireland with Maurice Deasy from Teagasc, David McDonnell from GreenGas AD and Declan Collins from the Irish Farmers Journal. 

Co-ops at a crossroads: With uncertainty over the future direction of milk supply in Ireland, Jack Kennedy sits down with Declan O’Connor of Munster  Technological University and TJ Flanagan from ICOS along with key industry stakeholders to discuss the future of the processing sector in Ireland in terms of product mix and the impact on milk price.

Assessing investment decisions. Aidan Brennan sits down with Michael Murphy, agri-adviser with AIB, on how to assess different investment options on dairy farms in terms of return on investment and contribution to sustainability, profit and work-life balance. 

Dairying in 2030: With so much regulatory change taking place, Jack Kennedy asks key industry leaders for their vision of dairy farming in Ireland by 2030. With panellists including Laurence Shalloo, head of animal and grassland research at Teagasc, and Mick Houlihan, senior manager for farm sustainability with Bord Bia.

Careers in dairy: Educational paths for new starters to dairy farming and the dairy industry is always an important topic. With changes to the way young  people are being trained, we discuss the options and the issues with Frank Murphy from Teagasc, Frank Buckley from UCC, Liam Hanrahan chair of Macra agricultural affairs committee, and Sarah McIntosh, careers editor with Irish Country Living.

What now for milk price?: With such an export-driven dairy sector, what happens internationally is critically important in Ireland. Jack Kennedy discusses the outlook with Bernard Condon, MD of global ingredients with Ornua, and David Kennedy, head of dairy with Bord Bia.

Modern families: family farming in Ireland. Teagasc researcher Brendan Horan sits down with the Quigley family from Nenagh, Co Tipperary, and the Barron family from Waterford, winners of the NDC/Kerrygold Quality Milk Awards to discuss the trials and tribulations of combining family life with a  busy dairy farm.

Dairy Dragons in the milking pit: New product innovations that can utilise technology, make farmers more efficient and more sustainable are always to be welcomed. This year’s Dairy Day will incorporate awards for new product innovations that are of benefit and value to Irish dairy farmers, in association with RISE Global Foundation.

Teambuilding: The farmer is just one aspect of a successful farm team. Aidan Brennan will discuss how farmers can build a high-performing farm team around them, from employees to professional services like accountants and advisers, to contractors and vets with Colin Donnery, CEO of FRS, Niall Murphy,  dairy farmer Missouri, US, and Paidi Kelly,  dairy farmer and farm consultant.