Specialist liquid milk producers being priced out of market

Supermarkets and other retailers will find it difficult to source locally produced fresh milk in the winter months, as low prices are driving away specialist liquid milk producers.

IFA national liquid milk committee chairman, Teddy Cashman, said farmers markedly reduced the late 2015 dairy calving that would normally have been geared towards underpinning liquid milk supply.

With returns from the retail sector waning, an increasing number of dairy farmers are switching their focus onto cheese and other commercial markets.