Last year was a good year for dairying, both for farmers and producers.”

It’s no wonder that Dale Farm CEO Nick Whelan is in bullish form as the co-op put out a blockbuster set of figures for the financial year ending 31 March 2023. Turnover came in at £728m (€849m, a 23% jump from the previous 12-month period, while profit before tax increased 21% to £26.8m (€31.25m).

The CEO, in place since 2016, said the co-op was in prime position to focus on strategic growth. He said the business went through some difficult changes last year with the cuts of units in the UK which were not seen as core to its future direction.

“We have learned that we have to be focused on the right categories to drive the business forward. Our three watchwords as we make these strategic decisions are scale, technology and brand. The units we cut didn’t have the scale or the brand to achieve the growth we required.”

It is notable that Dale Farm managed to maintain its margin even as turnover surged – something many of Ireland’s other co-operatives struggled with in 2022.

Whelan said there is not one particular factor at work to produce that impressive result. “We focus on lean, on how to gain efficiencies. We take pride in what we call the Ryanair mentality, where there are no unnecessary costs in the business.”

Also, Dale Farm is almost unique in having fully signed up for the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi).

SBTi is a partnership involving the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP), the United Nations’ Global Compact, World Resources Institute (WRI) and the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF).

The co-op is required to demonstrate progress against environmental targets and must publicly report its annual greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.

We are working closely with our farmers on the issue and they are being responsive

Whelan admits there are considerable challenges in reaching the targets under the initiative but says they have little choice on the issue.

On the one side, Dale Farm’s corporate customers insist on the measure for their own emissions details. There are also legal constraints on GHG emissions. Finally, there is just the fact that it is the right thing to do from a societal point of view.

Like most co-ops, the vast majority of Dale Farm’s emissions happen inside the farm gate. Whelan puts that number at 85%. He expresses some frustration at how slow those emissions are moving lower.

“We are working closely with our farmers on the issue and they are being responsive. However, they are also frustrated with the situation where the measures that are needed are often unclear or poorly explained. There needs to be a major shift of focus to get the movement required on emissions in the timeframe allowed under the law.”

Again, Whelan manages to maintain his optimism here. He says the role of technology in the transition to lower-GHG farming is possibly going to be larger than we might expect.

Global population is closing in on 10bn people. They will want nutritious, tasty protein

Solutions like genetic improvement in the herd could see even more milk being produced by fewer cows, while developments in animal feed could have a double-effect of both having a lower carbon footprint while also reducing gas emissions from cows.

Listening to Whelan, it is easy to be convinced that the low-methane, high-milk cow is both the solution to dairy’s emissions problems and also not that far away.

He is certain that outlook for the dairy industry is very bright over the coming years, despite the obvious challenges. Northern Ireland’s family-farm production model means the region is well placed to face the challenges coming, and take advantage of the opportunities over the next few years.

“Global population is closing in on 10bn people. They will want nutritious, tasty protein. That is exactly what dairy is. If we end up just focused on the global middle class as customers, there will be plenty of business there to ensure dairy has a very bright future here.”