Four in ten ignorant of supply costs
More than four out of every ten dairy farmers don't know how much it costs them to produce a gallon of milk. That's one surprising statistic that emerged from a survey of their milk suppliers by Glanbia published last week. Almost 1,000 of the 2,650 of Glanbia's 5,181 suppliers who responded to their survey said they were unaware of the cost of producing their own milk. Apart from clearly identifying the need of many dairy farmers for assistance with financial planning, the survey provides a useful snapshot of the mood of the dairy industry post decoupling.
Overall their outlook is positive. Almost three-quarters plan to remain in dairying. But this largely depends on them getting more quota. For dairy farmers, despite all the changes in the CAP since Ireland joined the EU forty years ago, the message hasn't changed to continue to survive they must continue to expand.
