Currently dairy farming in Ireland is hot property. In December 2020 over 1.5 million milking dairy cows were recorded in Ireland (an increase of 2.1% on the year before), whilst domestic milk intake by creameries and pasteurisers increased by 13.5% over 12 months to an estimated 823.8 million litres in March 2021... and these numbers are set to increase again. However, this surge in cow numbers is met with challenges to reduce carbon footprint. Here we learn more about how the Irish herdbook, the IHFA, is armouring itself for the future.