It appears from the Eurostat data that the total number of dairy cows has declined in the EU by almost 10% since the peak in 2015. One issue is that the historic political/ food security concerns is being balanced by concerns of the ecological and climate impact of intensive dairy farming. I believe Ireland is being directed to reduce its herd to meet emissions targets. It may be the shape of the global dairy market is moving from the supply side whereas for much of the last 20 years we have focused on demand - and especially Chinese demand.
EU milk production is up 6% in that time, which is consistent with the drive for ever-higher yields that the film portrays. Ireland is up 32%, so understandable that they'd be under pressure to dial things back. The other area of interest is the Netherlands, which has been cracking down on nitrogen emissions, with some success - milk production is down 3% from its peak - but the political backlash is making that progress quite fragile. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nitrogen_crisis_in_the_Netherlands
It appears from the Eurostat data that the total number of dairy cows has declined in the EU by almost 10% since the peak in 2015. One issue is that the historic political/ food security concerns is being balanced by concerns of the ecological and climate impact of intensive dairy farming. I believe Ireland is being directed to reduce its herd to meet emissions targets. It may be the shape of the global dairy market is moving from the supply side whereas for much of the last 20 years we have focused on demand - and especially Chinese demand.
EU milk production is up 6% in that time, which is consistent with the drive for ever-higher yields that the film portrays. Ireland is up 32%, so understandable that they'd be under pressure to dial things back. The other area of interest is the Netherlands, which has been cracking down on nitrogen emissions, with some success - milk production is down 3% from its peak - but the political backlash is making that progress quite fragile. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nitrogen_crisis_in_the_Netherlands