Lakeland Dairies has hosted a series of workshops at four locations to provide milk suppliers with information on the new MilkFlex scheme being provided by Finance Ireland.

Workshops took place in Cavan, Kells, Castleblayney, and Mullingar over the last week.

MilkFlex is designed to provide milk suppliers with a loan product that helps to protect cash flows from the impacts of price volatility.

It is managed by financial services provider Finance Ireland with funding from the Ireland Strategic Investment Fund (ISIF) and Rabobank.

Repayments can also be adjusted to allow for seasonality in milk production. Farmers must be in a registered milk supply agreement with a dairy co-operative.

The scheme applies in the Republic of Ireland.

Lakeland Dairies’ chairman Alo Duffy said: “Promoting ongoing sustainability in milk production and in processing is essential to ensure a positive future in dairying.

“Mechanisms like MilkFlex provide an optional means of finance on a more affordable basis, in terms of the interest rates and flexibility that are involved, and this can help milk producers to reduce the impacts of market volatility on a longer-term basis.”