Dairygold has appointed a new member to its board of directors, following an election that took place last Friday (December 17).

Michael J. Murphy was elected to fill the vacancy in the Mid Cork region.

He replaces Richard Hinchion, who has now completed his maximum permitted consecutive periods of service on the board.

Murphy represents the Balinhassig Electoral Group. He was initially elected to the Mid Cork Regional Committee in 1992, serving three terms and, following a one term break, was re-elected in 2013.

Murphy has been a member of the General Committee since 2019. He also served on the Rules Review Sub-Committee in 2004 and again between 2019 and this year.

The father-of-three is also a former member of the National Dairy Committee of the Irish Farmers’ Association (IFA). He was a Dairygold Mid Cork Regional Milk Quality Award Winner for 2020, alongside his brother John.

Dairygold milk price

The day before the election that saw Murphy’s appointment (Thursday, December 16), Dairygold confirmed its milk price for supplies in the month of November.

The processor increased its quoted milk price for November by 1.5c/L to 39.5c/L, based on standard constituents of 3.3% protein and 3.6% butterfat.

The company said this is inclusive of bonuses and VAT.

In a statement last Thursday, Dairygold said this milk price will mean an average November farm gate milk price of 51.4c/L, based on average November milk solids achieved by its milk suppliers.

The processor said the quoted milk price for November, based on EU standard constituents of 3.4% protein and 4.2% butterfat, is 43.2c/L.

A spokesperson for the company said that “global milk supplies continue to ease with projected growth for the year 2021 expected to be less than 1%”.

“Demand continues to be strong and dairy ingredient prices have firmed in recent weeks. As is customary, the Dairygold board will continue to monitor markets closely and review milk price on a month-by-month basis,” the spokesperson added.