Ireland’s history is deeply rooted in agriculture, with livestock being the central focus of all those green fields you see when you arrive. Old practices of running a family dairy are under pressure from environmental laws and a rethinking of what is sustainable, but in other ways some of these ancient practices are being revived as more sustainable. Farmers feel caught in the middle. Ireland is a small contributor to climate change overall, but the efforts to reduce emissions may force consolidation and threaten family farms livelihood. Change is coming so fast from government regulations that farmers are wondering if they can hang on even one more generation. No matter how hard one farmer tries to change, he doesn’t feel like his concerns and livelihood matter in the bigger picture of government regulations. Dairy farming is trying to adapt, but the speed of change may be the death knell for this type of family farm.