Quota freeze hurting
Although the retail price battle still simmers in the background, there has been a 20% jump since Christmas from supermarkets' 99 cent discounted price, and the price has generally settled at €1.19 for two litres.
Farmers feared milk price cuts due to heavily discounted sales of milk partly facilitated by supermarkets buying their milk in Northern Ireland. But instead of lower prices, farmers now say processors are limiting the quota of milk they buy at the liquid price. At a meeting of Limerick IFA, Tom McGrath, a liquid milk producer from Knockainey, told the meeting that farmers trying to improve their position by increasing production were getting nowhere.
