FAST FACTS
Maintaining high grass quality improves milk solids.
Manure slurry provides sufficient nutrients for pastures, so that chemical fertiliser is not necessary.
Farmers in Ireland have a host of environmental laws to comply with, which pushes up costs.
The cool summers and ample rain in Ireland make for ideal grass-growing conditions. The rolling hills of verdant pasture, with sheep and cattle dotting the landscape, are synonymous with the Irish countryside, as is the world-renowned butter that farmers produce off these fields.
Dairy farmer Vanessa Kiely-O'Connor, from the picturesque outpost of Innishannnon in southern Ireland, is suitably proud of the cheese and butter that the country produces. She has managed to squeeze in my visit between running the dairy single-handedly and attending co-op meetings, yet still made time to bake a traditional Irish soda bread, slathered with golden-yellow butter. To save time, the butter is offered in a paddock where we stand inspecting grass among the cows, who periodically butt into our backs to coax a head scratch. An array of cheese is also put forward, since most of KielyO'Connor's milk goes to cheese production.
“The grass makes all the difference,” she says. “Our
