Ireland could create EU model for dairy risk management

Ireland is ideally placed to develop Europe’s first dairy sector futures and options index, creating a model for EU-wide adoption, agri-food industry leaders have claimed.

Speaking at the IFA-hosted ‘Making Risk Management Work for Farmers’ seminar in Co Laois, representatives of Ornua, ICOS, Department of Agriculture and financial brokerage FCStone agreed that an index would be vital platform upon which to build an Irish commodity price hedging industry.

Seminar attendees heard how US farmers manage price volatility by taking fixed prices for 20% or more of their annual milk output.