IFA: Liquid milk suppliers furious with dairies and retailers over price

LIQUID milk suppliers are furious with dairies and retailers over prices and have pledged to fight for their survival.

The Irish Farmers Association (IFA) said yesterday 1,000 angry farmers attended a rally in Tullamore the previous night to highlight their plight and express outrage at the way they are being treated. IFA president Padraig Walshe said the food supply chain was broken when primary producers and their families are being asked to produce food at prices below the cost of production, while others in the food chain enjoy healthy margins.

“This is simply intolerable,” he said, calling on the dairies and the retailers to address the imbalance and ensure liquid milk producers get a fair price for their milk.

“Farmers need an annual average price of at least 34c/l to cover their costs, and the prices on offer for the summer months would fall up to 10 c/l below these costs.” Earlier this week, Mr Walshe, who is also the current president of COPA, the European farmers union, told Taoiseach Brian Cowen it was imperative the retail sector was regulated in Ireland and across Europe.

The IFA leader called for a re-balancing of power in the food chain. Otherwise, he warned family farmers will be put out of business and there will be a breakdown in the food supply across Europe.

Meanwhile, FG food spokesperson Andrew Doyle said the Irish grocery trade, worth up to €14 billion, was like the “Wild West”. It was time it got a sheriff, he said.

Mr Doyle said the grocery market in Ireland is dominated by six companies and some of these companies have abused their power to unfairly profit on the backs of Irish suppliers.

Mr Doyle said his party has proposed the merger of the Competition Authority and the National Consumer Agency into a new, beefed-up Irish office of fair trading.