Further Milk Price Cuts Unsustainable with Increased Input Costs

IFA Dairy Chair Stephen Arthur said the 6cpl cut in milk price announced by Lakeland Dairies and Kerry is disappointing. 

The knee jerk reaction of co-ops to a global correction in commodity prices is vastly different to the way they have managed fertiliser prices.

“While global urea fertiliser prices have fallen by over 50%, the co-ops have been more reluctant to pass on this on, but they have no problem in cutting milk price. It’s total hypocrisy and what could be described as an attempt to control the domestic fertiliser market. As we approach peak milk production, we need a sustainable milk price. Further cuts cannot be carried considering higher input costs,” he said.

“Global markets would indicate that markets have stabilised in the past month. When the global market was heating up, the rise in milk price was far more gradual, but now as things cool down, the price cuts are immediate and stark. A 6cpl cut represents a loss in excess of €40,000 for the average dairy farmer and this is the second cut this year,” Stephen Arthur said.

“While we all expected a correction in the market, the cuts made by processors are record breaking for all the wrong reasons. Enough is enough,” he concluded.