Ms Finola McCoy:

In terms of how confident we can be that we can shift that national figure in respect of the second half of the population that is in excess 200,000 cells per millilitre, I would be confident that those farmers whose milk is between 200,000 and 400,000 cells per millilitre can and will improve once we build an understanding that having a high cell count is a form of mastitis.

Therefore, mastitis control is applicable to high cell counts, but these counts are not something that people can just manage or accept. There are simple practices that can deal with them, such as attention to detail. The focus to achieve lower targets has increased significantly over the past year or so and I am confident that farmers whose milk is between 200,000 cells per millilitre and 400,000 cells per millilitre can move to a lower bracket.

I have some concerns with regard to the farmers whose milk has over 400,000 cells per millilitre. When we look at research and raw data from co-ops in terms of bulk supply that has over 400,000 cells per millilitre, we see - this can also been seen in other countries - that the offending or non-compliant farmers are generally repeat offenders. They are farmers who are not engaged and do not seek support. They tolerate penalties and put up with them without realising there is a solution or that they could be in a better place. This is a more challenging group in terms of achieving a shift and behaviour change. The suggestion has been made that we look at the limitations on those farms in terms of infrastructure, herd management or herd quality. It may be the case that some of those farmers do not necessarily see themselves continuing in dairy production and there may be some degree of natural culling from that population.

In terms of helping the largest group of people and having the greatest impact on the national cell count, I am confident we can help them and they can make significant changes. Even with regard to the percentage whose milk has a cell count of over 400,000 cells per millilitre, this percentage is relatively small in terms of the volume of milk supplied. If we look at the number of herds, it is 9% or 10% of them, but in terms of the volume of production, these will not have the biggest impact on the national cell count.

With regard to how we compare with competitor nations, we are currently at a higher level. In the UK for example, its reported annual figures are between 180,000 and 190,000 cells per millilitre, while ours is in the mid 200,000 cells per millilitre. Scandinavian countries are lower still, from 120,000 to 140,000 cells per millilitre.