Euronext is making a bid to develop a dairy market but Ireland could have leading role in exchange modelled on CME.

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.

Feedback from people who attended Monday’s CIT seminar on future milk price volatility management mechanisms was broadly positive, both from farmers and from the event’s organisers.

Ireland’s dairy sector may have to look at new models for milk pricing and for managing global market volatility, say milk industry experts.

A cultural shift towards commercial hedging mechanisms to manage volatility in milk price and animal feed costs would make Irish dairy farming more attractive to US agri-food investors.