Seasonality of Irish milk production
Deputy Mac Giolla asked whether Ireland’s sharply seasonal milk production could be changed to resemble mainland Europe’s. The Minister contrasted Ireland’s grass-based system with continental winter feeding, noting that better winter prices had not sufficiently encouraged production.
Are there plans for altering the seasonality factor in respect of production in the Irish dairy industry from the position where we produce almost 14 times as much in summer as we produce in winter, whereas on mainland Europe the figure is as low as about twice as much in summer as in winter?
Comment on this
This question is not as easy as it may seem. Our system, which is based on grass, is a relatively low production system whereas continentals depend largely on feeding right through the winter. Co-operatives here encourage people to produce milk in winter by way of providing a better price.
