b'28The Dairy-4-Future Project: Propagating innovations for more resilient dairy farming in the Atlantic AreaNonhebel I1, Sorley M1, Scully K1, Buckley C2, Burgess E3, Casey IA4 and Humphreys J1 1Teagasc, AGRIC, Moorepark, Fermoy, Co. Cork2 Teagasc, Mellows Campus, Athenry, Co. Galway3Agricultural Catchments Programme, Teagasc, Johnstown Castle Environment Research Centre, Wexford, Co. Wexford, Ireland4Waterford Institute of Technology, Cork Road, Waterford.The Altantic area encompasses regions along the Altantic coastline of Europe including the west of Scotland, the entire island of Ireland, Wales and south west England, the west of France, the Northern coastline of Spain and Portugal. This area includes important dairy producing and exporting regions accounting for 20% of EU milk production. The Atlantic Area is well positioned to meet growing global demand for dairy products because of favourable climatic conditions for fodder production, well-educated farmers and efficient dairy processing and manufacturingbusinesses. Nevertheless, dairy farms face several challenges including economic viability,complying with environmental regulations and future challenges such as climate change.Funded by the Interreg Atlantic Area Program, the Dairy-4-Future project aims to increase the competitiveness, sustainability and resilience of dairy farms in the Atlantic area. The keyquestions in this project are (i) how sustainable are the farms that produce our milk and(ii) what can be done to improve the sustainability and the sustainable image of these farms. A network of 100 commercial dairy farms has been established including 10 commercial dairy farms in each of the following regions: Scotland, Northern Ireland, southwest England, Ireland, Normandy, Brittany, Pays de Loire, Basque Country, Galicia, Portugal and the Azores Islands (which account for 30% of Portuguese milk production). Many aspects of sustainability are being measured including economic performance, nutrient use efficiency, carbon footprint andammonia footprint. The goal is to improve the economic performance and environmentalfootprint of dairy farming by identifying and demonstrating best practices leading to practical recommendations tailored to the socio-economic, climatic and soil conditions in each region. Recommendations will be widely disseminated in the Atlantic Area. The key message for Irish dairy farmers is to continue to focus on low-cost grazed-grass to ensure the economic andenvironmental sustainability of their farms. 72'