That organiser of a protest at the Kerry Group processing facility in Charleville, Co. Cork, in late June has criticised the processor’s latest forward price scheme.
Gerald Quain, who is a former chairperson of the Dairy Committee of the Irish Creamery Milk Suppliers’ Association (ICMSA), organised the first of two protests that took place within the last two months, sparked by disaffection by Kerry Group’s milk price.
The Charleville protest took place on June 20. The second protest took place at Kerry Group’s Tralee offices on July 11.
Those protestors said that they have been paid 3.7c/L less than suppliers of neighbouring processor Dairygold for all milk supplied in the first five months of 2023, with the shortfall continuing for a sixth month after Kerry Group’s milk price announcement of July 17 for June supplies.
This week Kerry Group confirmed that it is offering its suppliers a forward price scheme at 33.5c/L, inclusive of VAT, at 3.3% protein and 3.6% butterfat.
This forward price scheme is for the period March to October 2024, and includes a feed and fuel price adjustor. The scheme closed for applications yesterday (Thursday, August 10).
Speaking to Agriland today (Friday, August 11), Quain suggested that it is unlikely the scheme would have seen significant uptake, and saying that he himself was “very displeased with it”.
“I can’t see any farmers making money out of it… The feedback I’ve got is that it isn’t worth going for.
“If that’s where the price of milk is going to head next year they will have no business producing it,” Quain added.
He said dairy farmers are not breaking even at the moment, adding: “The price of feed isn’t coming down. The price of fertiliser is starting to crawl up slightly again.”
Pat Enright, the Kerry supplier who organised the second of the two protests over the Kerry milk price, also gave his verdict on the scheme, slamming it has an “insult to farmers”.
He told Agriland: “It’s an insult to farmers. Cost of production is up on 40c, and that’s not even including labour. The weather we have is horrendous as well.
“A contract of 33.5c/L and it costing you 40c/L to produce it? There is only way this is going.”
“Farmers are disgruntled with this contract. If this is the way milk price is going to be next year, it’s going to be the end of the dairy industry in this country,” Enright added.