Glanbia Co-operative Society has announced details of its 2019 trading bonus scheme that will reward farmer members of the co-op for purchases made from Glanbia Ireland and its subsidiaries.

For milk supplier members of Glanbia Co-op, the 2019 trading bonus is potentially worth up to 0.75c/L on all milk delivered in 2019.

For grain growers, a trading bonus of up to €10/t of grain supplied is available for 2019.

Beef, sheep and pig farmer customers of Glanbia Ireland that are Glanbia Co-op members will also qualify for a feed bonus on their tonnes purchased this year.

The 2019 feed trading bonus will be €10/t on beef, dairy and sheep feed products purchased from Glanbia Ireland by non-milk suppliers, with €3/t available to qualifying co-op members on purchases of pig feed and straights.

In a change from the 2018 Trading Bonus Scheme, eligibility for feed bonus payments is confined to non-milk suppliers in 2019; all feed purchases continue to count towards a milk supplier’s total spend for the milk supplier trading bonus.

The milk supplier trading bonus is worth up to €3,750 to a 500,000-litre supplier spending over 7c/L with Glanbia Ireland this year.

All 2019 purchases made from Glanbia Ireland – feed, fertiliser, veterinary medicines, dairy hygiene products and farm hardware etc – are included in the calculation – purchases made through purchasing groups count at 50% for 2019.

At the end of 2019, the total spend will be divided by the total litres of milk delivered to generate a cent per litre input spend.

The applicable Trading Bonus is then calculated based on the figures in the table below.

The trading bonus scheme is funded from Glanbia Co-op’s 60% share of the dividend paid by Glanbia Ireland to its shareholders.

Commenting, Martin Keane, chairman of Glanbia Co-operative Society, said:

“The 2019 trading bonus scheme builds on the very successful trading bonus scheme launched in 2018.

In the coming weeks, the 2018 trading bonus scheme will return almost €14 million to our active farmer shareholders.

“The trading bonus rewards our members for trading with the business that the majority own – Glanbia Ireland.

“It is an equitable and transparent means of returning a share of Glanbia Ireland’s profit to active farmers,” Keane said.