Paula Hynes: Milk price war is nothing more than a two-fingered salute to Irish dairy farmers
Energy prices are crucifying dairy farms, milking cows and cooling milk uses a lot of electricity.
As European dairy markets continue in free fall, farm gate milk prices continue to drop in Ireland, and recently, the supermarkets entered into what is being called a price war on milk.
I am all too aware of the cost of living and food inflation. In the supermarkets meat rose by 11.2% in 12 months while dairy increased by 13.5% but so too has most other groceries risen in price, coffee increased by over 10% while chocolate has risen by 14%, going forward beef prices in supermarkets are set to remain high and possibly for the next three years as a global shortage of beef remains on the horizon.
Just like the cost of filling a shopping trolley has risen, the cost of running farms has dramatically risen, energy prices are crucifying dairy farms, milking cows and cooling milk uses a lot of electricity, and the winter months are even more costly with scrapers running in sheds to keep cows clean and lights required to continue working the long days to keep milk flowing.
All the major supermarkets slashed the price of own brand milk, taking 6 cent of the price of a one litre and 10 cent of a two litre carton, these are the very supermarkets who always preach how they support Irish farms and love to portray that image in fancy adverts yet their so called price war is nothing more than a two fingered salute to Irish dairy farmers when times are beginning to get really tough for the dairy farmer.
Our milk price has dropped by over 6 cent a litre in the last few months, we jump through hoops doing Bord Bia audits, pay a subsidy to the NDC for fancy advertising and logos on milk cartons. I am well aware that not every Irish dairy processor supplies milk to supermarkets, it is bad enough that Irish dairy is not sold as a premium product on world markets, yes we might have the Kerrygold brand which is seen as premium globally but Irish butter is all too often offered on trading platforms as prices cheaper than most European countries, now our own supermarkets won’t support us and are slashing the price of milk.
Their move seemed to be praised in some media circles. The supermarket is being hailed as reducing prices for the consumer, but in reality, it isn’t a price war between supermarkets; it is a combined retail war on farmers, and while they might not want to support farmers, you, the consumer, have a choice: you can choose the branded dairy carton and bypass the supermarket's own-brand milk. Supporting farmers by paying a fair price ensures family farms survive, but so too do dairy processors also have a responsibility to support farmers; they need to put pressure on supermarkets to stop price wars. Imagine if supermarket shelves were empty of milk for a few days.
Back home, it has been a week of catching up on jobs around the farm after the National Dairy Show. Kasey and Kali are being wound down on feed as they are due to be dried off at the end of the month.
All the show heifers have been put into bigger groups, and diets have been altered slightly as we prepare to breed a lot of heifers. Khaleesi has moved from straw to haylage and grouped with Espresso and Alanna as they are all due to calve early in January. We scanned the rest of the in-calf heifers, and they will be housed shortly as they are mostly calving in January. The countdown is on to the end of the grazing season, although the cows will easily be grazing twice a day into November, even with the heavy rain on Saturday, ground conditions seem to be holding up well.
Our Jones Haniko Fame heifer seems to be progressing nicely since she calved. Becky clipped her during the week, so we will see how she looks in time, and she may possibly be an option to take to the Winter Fair in December, and certainly is a very promising heifer. Once Fame was clipped, Becky cleaned and packed all her clipping gear, checked the list of extras required and packed her show whites as she was on her way to Montichiari in Northern Italy, midway between Milan and Verona.
Montichiari National Dairy Show is a major European dairy show, especially for Holstein, Red Holstein and Jersey breeds. The show is also home to the International Open Junior Show, where youth teams from across Europe compete in clipping, stock judging and showmanship. Each country can put forward a team of four, including two juniors and two seniors. Flying the Irish flag for the IHFA YMA team in the junior section are Kate Maunsel from the Kerry club, who was on the Irish team in Battice in 2024, and Josh Sinnot from the Slaney club, who was champion handler at Emerald Expo in 2025.
In the senior section, Becky will represent the Cork club, having had a successful year in showmanship and clipping, and she competes alongside Manus Murphy from the Carlow Kilkenny club who was champion handler at YMA National Finals in 2025 and team leader is Georgia Greenan who will keep the team organised, motivated and ensure they are where they need to be throughout the show. The team arrive in Montichiari on Wednesday, where they will attend a team briefing and be assigned their heifers that evening.
It will be straight down to business on the Thursday with the junior clipping competition at 9am followed by the senior clipping competition, with the afternoon comprising technical quizzes and judging contests. Friday sees the beginning of the Italian National show with Junior Holstein heifers competing. Saturday is showmanship day for the juniors and seniors before the National Holstein cows compete, and then Sunday is National Brown Swiss and Jersey classes. Best wishes to team Ireland, and if you want to follow along for updates, you can find them on the IHFA YMA social media pages.
