Volatility has returned to the dairy market, claims co-op chairman

Volatility has returned to the dairy market, according to Tipperary Co-op chairman Matthew Quinlan, who said he was well aware of the problems this would cause at farm level.

Mr Quinlan was speaking at the co-op’s AGM, where he announced it had achieved sales of €147m, a pre-tax profit of €1m, and cash inflow of €3.4m.

Mr Quinlan informed the meeting that the stability of product prices that existed in 2011 had evaporated and volatility was once more a feature of dairy markets.

He assured the meeting that the board of Tipperary Co-op was aware of the difficulties that this volatility had caused at farm level, and he re-emphasised the board’s determination to support milk prices at this time.

In order to plan for the end of the quota in 2015, Tipperary Co-op has commissioned a survey to be conducted later this year of all milk suppliers.

Mr Quinlan appealed to all milk producers to be honest in response to the survey as it will be used to plan for growth patterns in milk supply.

Tipperary Co-op general manager Ted O’Connor, said the company may require funding from shareholders in order to fund expansion to handle the extra production.

Mr O’Connor said lending institutions alone could not be relied upon to fund the expansion.

The financial controller, Michael Dunlea, said that overall the co-op is well positioned in terms of processing capacity and markets for its products to deal with future expansion of its business.