The 23-hour period that Kerry Group milk suppliers have to apply for the processor’s new price volatility measure – in the form of the Kerry Agribusiness Forward Price Scheme – is now open.

Opening earlier this evening (Tuesday, June 12) at 3:00pm, suppliers have until 2:00pm tomorrow (Wednesday, June 12) to apply online to be part of the initiative.

In this new scheme, suppliers will be given the option to “tie down” a portion of their milk production to a fixed-price 12-month contract – from July 2018 through to June 2019.

The “Forward Price Scheme” contract price on offer was confirmed by Kerry to be 33c/L including VAT for supplies – with solids of 3.3% protein and 3.6% butter fat.

A spokesperson for Kerry Group said that so far there has been a good uptake to the scheme, which is the first of its kind to be launched by the processor.

The initiative received a ‘soft launch’, as members have to be registered online to participate, but the processor is very happy with how things are progressing so far.

Interested farmers will be given the option to secure between 1% and 10% of their annual milk volume into the Forward Price Scheme.

Kerry Agribusiness will strive to cater for all interested farmers at their preferred percentages, a company spokesperson confirmed.

Milk supplied must be in accordance with the Kerry Agribusiness supply curve from March to October, according to the processor.

“Futures Contracts” will allow Kerry Agribusiness to offer forward price schemes on a more regular basis to the processor’s milk suppliers.

Therefore, through the use of this scheme, such regular offers will mean that milk suppliers should be in a better position to mitigate milk price volatility, according to the spokesperson.

Suppliers will only be able to apply for the scheme online during the 23-hour window.