Dairying expansion must be well planned

The first thing to remember about expansion in milk production is that it must be well planned and stress tested before any major expense is undertaken.

Experience in Ireland over the past decades has shown a fairly high rate of failures by those who tried to get big too fast. There was also a high rate of failure where “experts” from at home and abroad went on to farms to manage large dairy units.

Dairying or any other farm enterprise cannot carry large borrowings.