Teagasc plans reveal dairy ambitions
But only “30% plus” is envisaged in Cos Limerick and Kerry.
Elsewhere in Munster, a 60% milk increase is also anticipated in the Cork East Teagasc region, but 35-40% is the aim of advisors in Cork West.
The Teagasc regional strategic plan for Tipperary includes a 50% increase in milk output.
Around the country, Teagasc advisors target increases of 40% in the Wexford/Wicklow/Carlow and and Westmeath/Offaly/Cavan/Monaghan regions; 30% in the Sligo/Leitrim/Donegal region; and 20% in the Roscommon/Longford region.
According to Teagasc Cork East Regional Manager Gerard MacMahon, the region has 2,300 dairy farmers, with a significant number of herds in excess of 100 cows.
Most Cork East dairy farmers plan to increase production by 20 to 50% over the next five years.
Kerry/Limerick Teagasc regional manager John Donworth said dairy cow numbers are increasing more rapidly in Limerick than in Kerry.
Cow numbers in Limerick in 2007 were 5% ahead of figures for Kerry.By 2012, the gap had widened to 11% and by 2013, the gap was 13%.
The Waterford-Kilkenny Teagasc plan envisages increasing the average herd size in the region by 23% and the average milk yield by 30%, to increase milk output by 60%.
The region has the largest farms in the country, averaging 44.7 hectares.
Across the country, reductions in Teagasc staffing are seen as a major threat to planned expansion. Waterford-Kilkenny Teagasc ManagerJohn Moloney said, “In the 1970s and early 1980s, when we last had unrestricted opportunity to develop, the farm advisory service and the farmers of Waterford and Kilkenny were to the forefront of that development.
He warned, “Despite maximising co-operation with our stakeholders and outsourcing non-core work, our resources are now stretched to the limit.
"Any further erosion of staff resources in the region will seriously impair our ability to deliver on this plan and limit the exploitation of the opportunities by the agricultural economy of the region.
"I am confident that as the fortunes of the national economy are turning, the government will provide the resources required by Teagasc to develop and expand the agricultural sector.”
