Liquid milk producers sound price warning
IFA National Liquid Milk Committee chairman Teddy Cashman issued the warning as supermarkets in Britain met farmers’ representatives to address the pressure on dairy producers as the price paid to them falls below production cost.
Mr Cashman said negotiations in France, in recent weeks, resulted in a well-overdue recognition that volatile returns from global commodity markets are neither relevant to retail returns, nor are they a sustainable basis in pricing milk destined for the domestic consumer market.
“The French example is something our own fresh milk chain needs to learn from,” said Mr Cashman. “We know that Irish retailers are seeking to use the global dairy market downturn to squeeze lower prices from dairies.
“Retailers will have to recognise that this is not justified, as regardless of international commodity price trends, consumers continue to pay stable retail prices.”
He said retail milk prices in Ireland have been very stable in recent years and urged all Irish dairies and retailers to recognise this and to work together to ensure adequate remuneration of winter milk production, despite the major base price cuts suffered by all dairy farmers in the last year.
Farming leaders in England, Scotland, Wales, and the North have, meanwhile, jointly urged the UK’s government, retailers, and processors, and the EU not to ignore the warning signs that farming in their countries is in a state of emergency.
