Glanbia vote opens door for better milk price

Farmer groups have unanimously welcomed the vote by Glanbia Co-op members to approve the Plc’s joint venture proposal, and have instantly called upon the board to now honour its promise of a stronger milk price for suppliers.

The 71% vote in favour of the proposal, which will effectively lead to the creation of Dairy Ingredients Ireland, will now see the co-op take effective ownership of their own milk processing, leaving Glanbia Plc to focus on its growth plans for its international cheese and nutritionals businesses.

ICMSA president, John Comer, said his association acknowledged and welcomed the decision. He said that having received the mandate they had sought, it was now wholly incumbent upon the board and management of the joint venture to deliver — “in full” — on the commitments they had made to their farmer-suppliers in terms of milk price and maximising the returns that would be delivered to the farmers. Mr Comer said that the assurances of the boards had been accepted in good faith and it was now a question of the boards delivering, and being seen to deliver, on the solemn assurances offered to and accepted by farmers.

Meanwhile, the latest LTO milk price analysis from the Netherlands shows Kerry and Glanbia respectively paying the second lowest and third lowest rolling average milk prices for the past year, of the 17 EU dairy companies being monitored.

The LTO milk price league, compiled by the Dutch Dairy Board, is standardised for milk of 4.2% fat, 3.4% protein, VAT-excluded for a 500,000kg per year delivery, of TBC 24,999 and SCC 249,999, collected every other day

The 12-month averages are €30.77 per 100kg of milk at Kerry, €31.23 at Glanbia, and an average of €33.94 for the 17 dairy companies.

The 12-month averages range from €30.66 paid by Milcobel in Belgium to €44.06 paid by Hameenlinn in Finland.

The table shows that US dairy farmers averaged €32.32 over the past year, Fonterra suppliers in New Zealand were paid €28.63, and suppliers to Emmi in Switzerland were paid €46.75.

The latest LTO milk price league also contains figures for September. They were €31 per 100kg of milk at Kerry, €30.44 at Glanbia, and an average of €33.30 for the 17 dairy companies.

Swiss farmers got €50.38, the price was €26.91 in New Zealand, and €36.51 in the US.