Cap of 35% for Tirlán fixed milk price schemes
Suppliers whose volumes are above the 35% combined threshold will be notified and offered the option to opt-in and accept the adjustment by Wednesday, March 15, 2023.
Tirlán has confirmed that suppliers taking part in fixed milk price schemes will be able to cap their volumes at 35% in 2023 and 2024.
The agreed changes apply to volumes under fixed milk price scheme 17 and the fixed milk price support scheme.
This means that a supplier will be able to cap their volume of milk under both schemes at a total combined maximum of 35% of their 2021 annual milk volume, Tirlán said.
Volumes contracted under scheme 18 are excluded from the adjustment.
Volumes above the combined maximum threshold of 35% will be cancelled, with volumes in the support scheme cancelled first, followed by those in scheme 17.
Those volumes will be paid at the Tirlán monthly milk price.
The board has taken the decision to adjust the schemes to provide further support to milk suppliers, a Tirlán spokesperson said.
Suppliers whose volumes are above the 35% combined threshold will be notified and offered the option to opt-in and accept the adjustment by Wednesday, March 15, 2023.
The adjustment will be backdated to January 2023 and reflected in the March milk payment paid in April. Suppliers still have the option to partake in the fixed milk price support scheme up until March 15, 2023.
This adjustment will result in a reduction in contracted volumes in fixed milk price schemes for suppliers with larger volumes contracted. The number of suppliers and volume of milk contracted under fixed milk price schemes has fallen significantly in 2023, the spokesperson said.
In 2022, Tirlán said it invested €25m to support suppliers contracted to fixed milk price schemes.
Tirlán has already introduced a number of voluntary measures in a bid to address the challenges faced by farmers with over 35% of their milk supply fixed in schemes.
These included an input cost support scheme, which was designed to aid cashflow and provided suppliers with a pre-payment of 5c per litre on all volumes above the 35% threshold during 2022. It is to be repaid in 2025 and 2026.
An agri-input support payment was paid as part of the overall milk price since April 2022 and applies to all volumes under fixed milk price schemes. The payment is set at 6.5c per litre until March 2023.
Additionally, the fixed milk price support scheme offered an uplift in price of fixed milk price scheme volumes from 31c to 32c per litre to 40c per litre in 2022 and 38c per litre in 2023 for suppliers with milk volumes above 35% contracted under fixed milk price schemes.
This was conditional on supply of fixed milk price scheme volumes in 2023 and 2024.
