Farmers suffer in ‘cruel’ milk price cycle

ICOS has called for structures to allow farmers and co-ops deal with “cruel” milk price cycles, as sinking butter and skim milk powder markets across Europe pointed to milk prices of just over 21.5c per litre.

However, the Irish Dairy Board Purchase Price Index for December suggested a milk prices of over 28c per litre, even after the most recent index fall of 5%.

Meanwhile, dairy farmers have taken heart from the two-in-a-row price rises for commodities traded through the Global Dairy Trade (GDT) platform run by Fonterra.