Dairy cattle account for €2.3bn in exports

IRISH cows accounted for €2.3 billion in dairy export earnings last year, the World Holstein Friesian Conference heard yesterday.

Some 350 delegates from 40 countries are attending the conference, which began in Killarney yesterday. It incorporates a dairy cattle show, which opens at the Green Glens in Millstreet this afternoon and continues tomorrow.

The role that the country’s 1.1 million dairy cows play in the national economy was outlined by Agriculture Minister Brendan Smith which is being held in Ireland for the first time.