Coveney to address dairy price volatility workshop

Risk management tools to ensure the dairy industry remains competitive and profitable in a more volatile future will be discussed at a workshop in the Cork Institute of Technology next Monday.

The opening address will come from Agriculture Minister Simon Coveney, and the entire Irish Co-operative Organisation Society (ICOS) board are invited , with representatives of all milk processors. CIT, Teagasc and ICOS organised the workshop because the increased dairy price volatility is expected to persist and perhaps increase.

Ireland may be more exposed to dairy price risk than other EU countries — due to highly seasonal grass-based production, high dependence on non-EU markets, exposure to currency fluctuation, and expansion and specialisation by farmers after EU milk quotas are scrapped in 2015.

The workshop will discuss tools which may be utilised to manage risk in agricultural markets. It will conclude with a round table panel discussion by dairy industry participants, policy makers and risk management experts.

The key note speaker will be Professor Andrew Novakovic, Professor of Agricultural Economics, Cornell University, USA.