A new interactive monthly milk price comparison tool – which will allow farmers to make relevant processor price comparisons based on their own individual statistics – has been unveiled by the Irish Creamery Milk Suppliers’ Association (ICMSA).
Launched today (Tuesday, April 27) the ICMSA says that this tool will allow dairy farmers to input their individual milk volumes, constituents and quality results and see “at the touch of a button” what they would have been paid for the same supply by every other milk processor in Ireland.
The facility, available to all on the www.icmsa.ie website, will allow a degree of transparency and comparison on an individual basis, according to the farming organisation, which describes it as “completely unique having undergone extensive preparation and testing”.
The system will be live as of today and “for the first time, farmers around the country will be able to see exactly what other processors would have paid them for their milk on a monthly or yearly basis”, the association says.
ICMSA president Pat McCormack said: “The term ‘game changer’ is often over-used – but there is no other way of representing the power that the ICMSA Interactive Milk Price Tracker now gives individual dairy farmers
“For many years, farmers have questioned the relative performance of their milk processor and while various comparisons were made using different methodologies, an individual farmer was never in a position to compare their actual milk volumes, constituents and quality results on an individual basis and see what they would have received from another co-op.
“That precise individual comparison is now available at the touch of a button.
Farmers can now track and map their milk processor’s performance over any given period and compare it to other processors.
The capacity for individual farmer comparison on a like-for-like basis is now there for every milk supplier in Ireland, the president added.
“It’s a very significant day for the farmers and a very significant achievement for ICMSA, one in which we invested time and effort,” McCormack said.
Recognising the role that bonuses and penalties play in the final milk price a farmer can receive, McCormack confirmed that ICMSA Interactive Milk Price Tracker takes account of all bonuses and penalties.
From today, the ICMSA Tracker allows a farmer to input his or her data for 2020 and get direct comparison for all of last year, while a similar capacity for the first months of 2021 will be available shortly and every month thereafter, he added.
“Milk price is central to dairy farmers’ incomes and the performance of your processor is decisive in this regard.
“The ICMSA Interactive Milk Price Tracker is now available to anyone on www.icmsa.ie and allows – for the first time – every dairy farmer to see what they would have been paid by any processor in the country for their individual supply.
“It’s a giant leap forward for farmers in terms of transparency and performance comparison and makes hugely valuable information available to farmers at the touch of a button,” the president concluded.