Dairygold has reported a record operating profit of €27.3m for 2013, up 33%, with revenues up 16% to €847m, and a record milk intake up 4% to 959m litres.

The umbrella body for the country’s co-ops has welcomed proposed new legislation aimed at reducing red tape on how they operate.

The board of Dairygold did not accept that its CEO should have made a decision about outsourcing milk testing and wanted a say on who should get the contract, the High Court heard yesterday.

Former Dairygold chief executive Jerry Henchy told the High Court he was in line for an annual bonus each year which was potentially half his six-figure salary.

The employment of former Dairygold CEO Jerry Henchy was wrongfully terminated for “spurious” reasons unrelated to how he did his job, after an orchestrated campaign involving Dairygold chairman Vincent Buckley and others, it has been claimed.

Young farmers’ permanent top-up in future CAP budgets will help promote the next generation of farmers, said ICOS president Bertie O’Leary.

Motorists are asked to be patient this weekend as agri co-op trucks deliver urgently needed hay and other animal feed to farms nationwide.

Dairygold Concerned Farmers Action Group is urging farmers not to sign the milk supply agreement (MSA), having failed to convince the co-op to adopt what it says is its more tax-efficient model.

Almost 3,000 dairy farmers who supply milk to food giant Dairygold have been urged not to sign a controversial new milk supply contract.

Dairygold’s board needs to recognise the genuine concerns and anger among farmers regarding its planned milk supply agreement, says Julian O’Keeffe, chairperson of North & East Cork ICMSA.

Milk industry and farmer groups have voiced strong support for Glanbia’s joint venture proposal, which would give Glanbia Co-op shareholders majority ownership of future milk processing.

The president of the Irish Co-operative Organisation Society (ICOS) Bertie O’Leary has called on Glanbia shareholders to vote “yes” and pave the way for the creation of Glanbia Ingredients Ireland.

Co-ops and farmers must work together to manage price volatility to protect both farmer incomes and co-op profitability, ICOS president Bertie O’Leary told those attending the Dairy Risk Management seminar hosted by Cork Institute of Technology on Monday.

A proposal to spin off the company’s domestic dairy operation is likely to get the green light, which should facilitate the expansion of the processing sector in Ireland in advance of EU milk quota abolition in 2015, reports Kyran Fitzgerald

Farmer organisations have reacted positively to the proposal by Glanbia Co-op to invest in a major milk processing joint venture.

Dairygold is to invest €120m in the coming eight years upping its milk production capacity by 18.5m litres a week.

Senior executives of Dairygold and Glanbia have been elected to the roles of president and vice-president of the Irish Co-operative Organisation Society (ICOS).

Dairygold Co-op has reported pre-tax profits of €22.3m for 2011, up by about 20% on its 2010 profit of €18.2m.

Dairygold Co-op has reported pre-tax profits of €22.3m for 2011, up by about 20% on its 2010 profit of €18.2m.

THE board of directors of Dairygold Co-op elected Bertie O’Leary as chairman and James Lynch as vice-chairman last week (see pictures on page 10).