Co-ops urged to pay high milk price
IFA Dairy Committee spokesman Michael Murphy said such a move was imperative because milk producers in the region are faced with huge cost disadvantages relative to other parts of the country.
He told the chairmen and vice-chairmen of Lakeland, Connacht Gold, Donegal, Town of Monaghan and Arrabawn co-ops at a meeting in Carrick-on-Shannon that co-operation must be the name of the game.
The priority of all co-ops must be to put the maximum money into farmers’ pockets. Western and northern co-ops must continue their efforts to take cost out within their own boundaries.
“They must also go one step further by eliminating duplication and working together on milk collection, processing and marketing,” he said.
Mr Murphy said the IFA has identified seven specific areas that could be progressed through co-operation among co-ops.
These include getting involved in contract processing, with one enterprise contracting specific production to a more efficient operator, forming joint ventures for product marketing and distribution and cutting milk assembly cost by abolishing overlapping collection routes.
Others include adopting independent milk testing, getting involved in milk trading, where smaller, depreciated plants co-operate with larger processors to maximise plant usage, co-operating on R&D, and sharing the cost and benefit of new plant construction with commercial arrangements to share the plant for processing.
Mr Murphy said northern and western co-ops and producers must work together to develop strategy for the dairy industry in the region which will help secure it and the livelihoods of dairy farmers by putting the emphasis on milk prices.
