Ireland's State of the Environment Report 2024

249 Chapter 10: Environment and Agriculture There were 7.3 million cattle in Ireland in 2023, of which 1.6 million were dairy cows. In the 10 years from 2013 to 2023, dairy cow numbers increased by 41% with a corresponding increase in milk production of 56%. This reflects the removal of the milk quota in 2015 and the national ambition to expand milk production under Food Harvest 2020 and Food Wise 2025, following 30 years of the industry being constrained at 1984 production levels. While the number of dairy cows in 1998 (1.598 million) was similar to that in 2014, the output per cow in 2014 was 48% more than it was in 1984 (CSO, 2021). Figure 10.3 compares dairy cow numbers and milk production in 1984 and 2023. Between 1984 and 2014, the output per hectare increased by 54% to 10,500 litres (Donnellan et al. , 2015). Figure 10.3  Dairy cow numbers and milk production, 1984-2023 Billion litres of milk produced 1984 5.4 million dairy cows (of 6.8 million cattle) 1.598 Billion litres of milk produced 2023 8.5 million dairy cows (of 7.3 million cattle) 1.646 ˜ Milk (million litres) ˜ Dairy cows (million head) Removal of the milk quota in 2015 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 22 20 18 16 14 12 10 08 06 04 02 00 98 96 94 92 90 88 86 84 82 80 Year Source: Adapted from CSO, 2021 The National Farm Survey, which is carried out annually by Teagasc, provides an overview of the economics of farming at the farm scale. Family farm incomes vary considerably by farm system. Dairy and tillage systems are the most profitable and are financially viable, with increasing trends in income in recent years (Figure 10.4); however, they represent only 11% and 4%, respectively, of Irish farms. In stark contrast, however, incomes on beef cattle and sheep farms, which are the dominant farming systems in Ireland, remain low and relatively unchanged. Small increases in output value are being offset by rising input costs. Direct payments and other payment supports from agri-environmental and other schemes continue to play a critically important role in supporting family farm incomes, in particular on cattle rearing and sheep farms (Teagasc, 2023b).