‘This puts dairy sector back in the right hands and it won’t be laden with debt’

Farmers had different reasons for being in favour of a yes vote at the Glanbia vote in Gowran Park, Co Kilkenny, but for Kieran McEvoy from Co Laois it was the chance to return to dairy farming.

A tillage farmer, Mr McEvoy voted yes because he believes farmers need to be in control of the dairy business in order to develop the industry.

“Who else is going to drive the dairy industry going forward,” he said. “We don’t expect the plc to invest in low-margin, high-cost operations like processing milk. If you want to drive the industry forward in has to be farmers as it was 20 to 30 years ago.”

Although, now a tillage farmer with Glanbia, Mr McEvoy said he would be interested in returning to dairy farming once the quota regime ends in 2015. Mr McEvoy had been a dairy farmer up until 2004 but he said the lack of investment in a sector hamstrung by the quota system led him to switch to tillage.

“Hopefully, it will give me the scope, if I want to go back into dairy farming post-quota, it means in 2015 there will be a machine and a vehicle to do so,” he said. “It won’t be laden with debt and it won’t be answering to a PLC shareholder, I’ll be answering to co-op members who are in the same position as myself.”

Not all of Mr McEvoy’s motives were farm-orientated. He was looking forward to gaining an asset if the €160m share spinout is approved.

“The spinout will give me an asset in PLC shares,” he said.

“Shareholders are expected to receive on average €15,000 in a plc share spinout that they can choose to hold the shares or sell.

“I haven’t made up my mind,” said Mr McEvoy. “There an asset and if I need to liquidate them I can. At the moment, I have co-op shares and they can’t be [sold].