On World Milk Day, 1st June 2026, the Dairy Council for Northern Ireland is proud to celebrate women at the heart of our dairy sector, farmers like Anna Downey, pictured here on her family farm in County Down.
This year’s global theme, Celebrating Women Farmers, recognises the vital role women play in sustaining dairy farming, strengthening rural communities, and driving the sector forward.
Anna represents the strength of Northern Ireland’s dairy farming community, bringing skill, commitment, and a fresh perspective to a sector grounded in generations of expertise.
Having studied sustainable agriculture at Greenmount, she returned home to farm full-time, bringing both technical expertise and a strong sense of purpose to the family business. Today, she is involved in every aspect of the operation, from milking and caring for animals to managing the daily demands of running a modern dairy farm.
World Milk Day is a moment to recognise milk as an important, nutritious food that supports health and wellbeing across all stages of life, while also highlighting the dairy sector’s contribution to sustainable agriculture and economic resilience in communities around the world. Anna’s story brings that global message to life at a local level, demonstrating the knowledge, innovation and dedication required to produce high-quality milk responsibly and sustainably.
This World Milk Day, we celebrate Anna and the many women across Northern Ireland whose expertise, resilience and leadership across every part of the value chain from before, within and after the farm gate, are helping to secure a sustainable future for dairy.