Co-ops urged to hold milk price

Any cut in the June milk price would be totally unjustified given the Ornua Index remains fixed, the ICMSA has signaled to Ireland’s dairy co-ops.

Mr Quain said Glanbia, Dairygold and Kerry all need to address the fact they are already paying well below what the market currently justifies.

“The Ornua PPI index is returning 22.5 cents per litre for June, based on a processing cost of 6.5 cent per litre — a cost that ICMSA views as excessive — with some processors happy to confirm their processing costs are well below this level,” said Mr Quain.