Dairy Council urges incoming Executive to back £2bn Northern Ireland dairy industry
Dairy Council for Northern Ireland Chair Ivor Broomfield (left) and CEO Ian Stevenson launch the Dairy Council’s new manifesto “A Pathway to Success” outside Stormont.
Tuesday 06 October 2026
Northern Ireland’s dairy industry is calling on the incoming Executive to provide greater support for a sector generating close to £2 billion in annual sales and sustaining thousands of farming and processing jobs.
Four priorities for Northern Ireland dairy
The Dairy Council for Northern Ireland (DCNI) has launched its 2027 manifesto, A Pathway to Success, setting out four areas where it wants action to strengthen competitiveness, encourage sustainable investment and give businesses greater certainty.
The priorities are capital grant funding, a planning system fit for the future, development of a sustainable circular economy and what the organisation describes as a wider “pathway to success” for the industry.
DCNI represents dairy farmers and processors responsible for more than 90% of the milk produced and processed in Northern Ireland.
Industry worth close to £2bn a year
Launching the manifesto, Dairy Council Chief Executive Ian Stevenson highlighted the scale of an industry involving more than 3,000 farming families and 2,300 processor employees.
He said:
“The dairy sector is a major contributor to the economy of Northern Ireland generating close to £2bn of annual sales revenue with over 3,000 farming families and 2,300 processor employees directly engaged in the sector.
“Our sector is renowned for the quality of milk that is produced all year round on farms throughout Northern Ireland and the dairy products that are made from that milk are valued by customers in every market that our processors supply.
“As a sector, we cannot afford to stand still, so we will continue to need to deploy cutting-edge innovations and technology along the value chain and we would encourage our MLAs and Executive Ministers to encourage and support the sustainable development of one of our most important domestic industries in Northern Ireland,” added Ian.
Exports reaching more than 80 countries
Northern Ireland dairy produce is consumed in more than 80 countries, while dairy exports account for more than 43% of all Northern Ireland food and drink export sales outside the UK.
With its manifesto now published ahead of 2027, the Dairy Council is seeking commitments that would allow farmers and processors to invest and plan for the longer term, arguing that government decisions on funding, planning and sustainability will be important to maintaining the sector’s competitiveness at home and in international markets.
