The Irish Creamery Milk Suppliers’ Association (ICMSA) has said that 37c/L is minimum acceptable milk price for November supplies.
The chair of the association’s dairy committee, Noel Murphy said that milk processors must “wake up” to the reality currently facing their farmer suppliers.
Murphy insisted that November should mark the beginning of a series of milk price increases to be introduced in the coming months.
“The only surprise with the October milk supply figure being down 12.1% is that the reduction wasn’t greater.
“We anticipate November and December figures will be down even more as farmers, many of whom would normally milk over the winter, have taken the decision to dry off cows as it simply not economically viable to continue to milk them,” he said.
Milk price
Murphy said that 2023 has been an “extremely difficult year” for Irish dairy farmers.
He said that it is “hugely frustrating” that milk processors have chosen not to pass on the dairy product price increases experienced since September to farmers “who have been producing milk below the cost of production for months now”.
The ICMSA Dairy chair said that Teagasc estimated that the cost of production in 2023 to be about 37c/L and only one Irish processor is paying a base milk price above this level.
“Farmers have voted with their feet and dried off cows. That’s going to continue until and unless milk processors wake up to the reality that many farmers are not be in a position to pay their bills this year.
“Milk processors are very good at preaching sustainability to farmers but they need to deliver sustainable prices.
“Based on the ICMSA milk tracker, Dairygold, Tirlan and Aurivo are at the bottom of the milk price league representing a very substantial percentage of Irish milk .
“If Irish farmers are to deliver sustainability, they need to be receiving a sustainable base price and not these gimmick discretionary bonuses so prevalent at this stage,” Murphy said.
The ICMSA chair said that “token single cent increases were now no longer acceptable and that it was time for the processors to begin restoring farmer confidence”.