The chair of the Munster Dairy Producers' Organisation (MDPO) has claimed that "hundreds of people" will not sign the new Kinisla milk supply contract.

James Doyle made the comments at a meeting held by MDPO at the Longcourt House Hotel in Newcastle West, Co. Limerick last night (Wednesday, July 29).

The meeting, attended by up to 200 people, comes as the deadline for signing the new Kinisla milk supplier contract falls next Tuesday, August 4.

MDPO

James Doyle said the people attending the meeting "were worried about their future and what they are signing their name to".

The MDPO chair has previously claimed the contract is "one-sided" and that there is nothing in it for milk suppliers, other than having their milk collected.

He reitered his call for a shorter contract duration of 1 or 2 years to be offered to farmers.

"I've never told anyone not to sign a contract, but I'm telling people not to sign this contract for what's in it for milk suppliers.

"We're prepared to negotiate any day of the week with the management of Kinisla," he told last night's meeting.

One of the main talking points at last night's meeting was whether milk would continue to be collected from suppliers who had not signed the contract by August 4.

Kinisla has said that it is not obliged to collect milk from an individual supplier who has not signed the milk supply contract after August 4, notwithstanding that the supplier may be a member of Kerry Cooperative Creameries Limited.

The business added that this was outlined in the cover letter provided with the milk supply agreement which was issued in April.

In his address to the meeting, barrister Ciaran Dolan questioned if Kerry Creameries Limited (KCL) tries to implement this in cases where a supplier has not signed the contract, does this "allievate or quench" the obligation of Kerry Co-op to collect milk.

Kinisla is majority owned (70%) by Kerry Co-Operative Creameries Limited. KCL is a wholly owned subsidiary of Kinisla and is responsible for the purchase of raw milk from suppliers under the contract.

KCL was also the contracting party to the previous milk supply agreement with suppliers.

Contract

Ciaran Dolan also outlined questions raised by MDPO about the new contract with European Commission officials in an online meeting last week.

He said that in his view it was "unlikely" that the contract with KCL would qualify for a derogation for co-ops from the EU Common Market Organisation (CMO) regulations.

That legislation, which relates to farmer supply contracts, is due to come into effect in August 2028.

MDPO has issued a letter inviting members to add their name if they are not going to sign the contract in its current form.

Doyle said this also allows the organisation to negotiate on behalf of those suppliers.

"If people here tonight wish to have their names put onto that letter, I'd say we wouldn't be far off 100 names, we might get 200 names," he said.

"Once we stand together, we need have no fear," he added.

When asked if MDPO has negotiated with any other processor to purchase members' milk, Doyle said that he had "contacted nearly every processor that's near us".

"I have spoken to everyone that I could talk to, but they're all waiting for August 4 to pass," he said.

Contracts

In a statement, a spokesperson for Kinisla told Agriland that "the contract is fair and balanced and benchmarked against industry standards".

"We're getting contracts in at a significant rate at the moment, we've had nearly 150 contracts returned alone in the last 24 hours.

"Obviously the deadline for receipt of contracts is August 4. After that date we expect there'll be a number of days to reconcile our position in terms of the contract, who has signed, who has not signed.

"At that stage, our board will decide the way forward in relation to the contracts and what we communicate to those that have not signed," they added.