Dairy board accused of ‘switching off the light’ on milk prices

THE ICMSA claims the Irish Dairy Board’s (IDB) plans to express its monthly milk price index as a percentage rather than price per litre will damage transparency for farmers.

ICMSA dairy committee chairman Pat McCormack said the IDB is “switching off the light” on milk data and prices. He said: “The information being issued needs to be clear and to be quantifiable. The IDB’s approach may be understandable in issuing information to the industry as a whole, but we are here to protect the interests of farmers.

“Effectively, the IDB are ‘switching off the light’ on milk price data and facts. This is a wrong move and one that is not acceptable to ICMSA. Whatever about the shortcomings of the butter and skim milk ‘on-account’ prices they are actual figures on the real market.”