Rise in Milk Price Justified – IFA

IFA National Dairy Chair Stephen Arthur said boards sitting down next week must raise the base price for January as current dairy market returns fully justify this increase.

“Input costs remain stubbornly high and with weaker than anticipated milk supply in the backend farmers starting back into milk this spring need a strong milk price. This isn’t the time for lining the coffers, every cent has to be paid back to the farmer,” Stephen Arthur said.

“The cost of milk production on farms has soared in the past 12 months and dairy farmers cashflow was only sustained by the strong buffer carried over from 2022,” the IFA National Dairy Chair added.

“The buffer is long gone. Most farmers need a base price in excess of 40cpl to sustain their businesses going forward,” he said.

While European markets are relatively stable, the latest GDT provided positive sentiment to the global dairy market lifting by 4.2%. Crucially butter traded substantially higher than in European spot and futures markets indicating the potential for butter prices to rise in the short term.