Ireland's most successful agri-businessman, Dr Denis Brosnan, told a dairy conference in Kerry yesterday that mergers in the industry were necessary to ensure its survival.
The managing director of KerryGroup plc, told the Teagasc national dairy conference that the industry must look beyond the primary product and expand into other foods.
Dr Brosnan said dairy processing facilities would have to merge, as would the industry's marketing activities, to get the benefits of scale, size and market knowledge. He predicted the EU milk quota system would remain in place, as European dairy farming cannot survive without it.
Mr Dermot Mc Carthy, chief dairy advisor, Teagasc, said business analysis skills were the key to survival for dairy farmers.
"The home computer is set to join the fertiliser spreader and the grass toppers as essential farm equipment," he told the conference in Killarney, which was attended by 1,200 people.