The CEO of Lakeland Dairies, Colin Kelly has urged government and EU stakeholders to recognise the "very significant progress" being made on water quality and environmental sustainability by dairy farmers, including the safeguarding of biodiversity.

In a statement, Kelly told Agriland that Ireland needs a "proportionate", evidence-based approach that supports continued environmental progress while safeguarding the future of sustainable food production.

The CEO said: "The nitrates derogation plays a critical role in enabling this balance. It must be maintained and supported by clear, workable guidelines, with fair implementation and appropriate funding that reflects the major efforts underway on Irish dairy farms.

"Through our Farming for a Better Future programme, our farm families are proactively implementing science-backed measures such as the use of protected urea, reduced nitrogen application, improved soil health practices and broad participation in water quality initiatives," Kelly added.

According to Kelly, the efforts being made are already delivering measurable results, and are being undertaken voluntarily and at scale.

The Lakeland Dairies CEO also believes that dairy farmers are willingly adapting to meet rapidly evolving environmental compliance demands however it is unreasonable that they should now be presented with a further and more complex layer of even more onerous regulation.

He said: "The prospect of applying the nitrates derogation more strictly under the Habitats Directive, without taking account of practical agricultural realities and the major progress that has been achieved to date, risks unfairly penalising family dairy farms.

"We will continue to engage with all stakeholders in this regard," Kelly added.

Separately, this week (Thursday, July 10) Lakeland Dairies confirmed that it will hold the price paid for milk supplied in June.

Lakeland Dairies board said the base price will remain “unchanged” and a 0.5c/L unconditional bonus will be paid on all litres supplied in June.

A price of 49.25c/L (3.6% butterfat and 3.3% protein) will be paid for June milk in the Republic of Ireland.

Lakeland said that this price is inclusive of the 0.5c/L unconditional bonus as well as the 0.5c/L Sustainability Incentive Payment.

In Northern Ireland, a price of 40.3p/L will be paid for milk supplied in June which is also inclusive of the 0.5p/l unconditional bonus on all milk supplied in June as well as the Sustainability Incentive Payment.