Seamus McMenamin, Bord Bia’s sheepmeat and livestock sector manager, emphasized that sheep milk is a “very niche product” in Ireland, with virtually no historical production. Currently, there are an estimated 1,000 milking ewes nationally, collectively producing a modest 285,000 liters of sheep milk annually. The majority of this output is processed into farmhouse cheese and yogurt, with over 95% consumed domestically and only small volumes exported to the UK and continental Europe.

The anticipated decline in EU sheep milk production is primarily attributed to factors such as an aging farmer population, increasing climate pressures, and persistent profitability issues in key producing nations like Greece, France, and Italy. This forecast highlights a broader trend affecting European agribusiness and presents a challenge for maintaining traditional dairy supply chains in the Mediterranean region, which accounts for a substantial portion of global sheep milk production.

While the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) is not directly funding sheep milk production research, it is actively supporting broader sheep production research across areas like genetics, nutrition, welfare, and environmental issues. DAFM emphasizes its commitment to research and innovation that promotes efficiency, sustainability, and the development of a strong bioeconomy within the agri-food sector, aligning with national and EU policies like Food Vision 2030.