With the CAP’s greening money set to move to so-called eco-schemes after 2020, one thing dairy processors want to see included is incentives for more milk recording.

The thinking at ICOS is that milk recording is the key to better management of environmental issues, antimicrobial resistance and Johne’s disease, yet only around half of Irish milk goes through the process.

The eco-schemes will be voluntary, but realistically all farmers will need to get in if they don’t want to lose the current 30% greening share of their direct payments.

Expect the co-ops to push for this as a way of generalising milk recording without making it an obligation as CAP talks develop.