Key note speakers included Arrabawn chief Conor Ryan and Moorepark boss Pat Dillon.

Pat Dillon explained the building blocks of profitable grass-based dairy farming and emphasised that EBI, grass management, soil fertility and agricultural training were all priority areas for dairy farmers.

He said: “Not enough dairy farmers are using the best technologies, such as grassland management, and dairy farmers need to up their game further if they want to be successful.”

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Arrabawn CEO Conor Ryan is not long back from the US with the board of Arrabawn and he said the only reason we are talking about 24c or 25c/litre now is because butter has performed better than all expectations this year.

He said: “Butter is the difference and if it wasn’t where it is now we would have farmgate milk prices closer to 20c and 21c/litre. McDonald’s delisted margarine over 12 months ago, which sent a strong signal to the market, and butter is trading well with Ornua since. This has helped put a foundation under milk prices.”

When questioned on future milk price next spring, Conor said: “I couldn’t tell you what the milk price might be for three weeks’ time, not to mind next spring. A lot depends on China’s purchasing power and whether Russia might allow the EU back into the Russian marketplace.”

James McCarthy, Munster IFA, said since 2005 the amount of money spent on inputs had increased by €1.5bn compared to 2013. He said: “Half of the increase is due to feed prices, but farmers need to be conscious of the amount of money spent on inputs and not just focus on output prices.”