Farmers call for milk processors to maintain prices over costs hike
IFA National Dairy Committee Chairman Richard Kennedy is urging all co-ops to hold their milk price until spring 2009. Mr Kennedy said the announcement by the EU that it would bring forward the Aid to Private Storage scheme for butter to January 1, 2009, 2 months earlier than usual, was an important step to stabilise dairy markets. He added that the ongoing strengthening of the US dollar also made European dairy products more competitive on the world market while reducing the competitiveness of US products.
“Bearing in mind that production costs have increased by around 6c/l in the last 12 months and that farmers cannot afford any further price cuts, I urge all co-ops to hold milk prices until spring 2009. “The Aid to Private Storage scheme allows traders and manufacturers to put butter in storage for a number of months, receive a subsidy towards the cost of storage, and bring the product out to fulfil contracts at a later stage, when prices are higher and supplies less plentiful.
