Dairy Farmers Must Make Their Voices Heard on Milk Price at Co-ops’ Agms

IFA National Dairy Committee Chairman Sean O’Leary, speaking at today’s IFA AGM, urged all dairy farmers to be sure to attend their co-ops’ own AGMs to challenge their management team, chairmen and board members to deliver a sustainable farm gate milk price for 2016.

“Our new President Joe Healy said it this morning in his inaugural speech, and I repeat it now: co-ops must stop cutting milk prices, and after five years of major investment in extra capacity, take stock and find cost savings in all areas of operation,” Mr O’Leary said.

“We recognise absolutely that co-ops have supported milk prices since mid-2015, and our message now is that more will be required as farmers face unprecedented challenges. Farmers can take no further cuts, and our co-ops must rethink their development strategy to ensure the price risk and the margins are more fairly shared,” he said.

“Milk prices have been falling steadily for the last two years, and with current milk prices of between 23 and 25.5 c/l, the majority of dairy farmers are now producing at a loss. This prolonged period of low returns is stressing cash flow to intolerable levels, and is simply not sustainable on farms,” he said.

“Co-ops must devise a long-term strategy that limits the exposure of farmers to what are now riskier and more volatile markets. This must include better pricing options, including fixed-price contracts and other forms of milk price hedging, but also more keenly priced inputs, lower cost and more flexible credit terms. All these topics must be discussed at co-ops’ AGMs,” he concluded.

How to limit the exposure of dairy farmers to very volatile dairy markets is the topic of a major IFA/FCStone conference to be held on Wednesday 4th May at the Heritage Hotel, Killenard, Co.Laois, titled Making Risk Management Work for Farmers – more information.