Glanbia Co-op has today (Tuesday, May 31) confirmed that no peak milk supply penalties will be imposed on suppliers for 2023.
The processor explained that milk supply to Glanbia for the peak weeks of 2022 was 2.3% lower than last year and 5% below forecast.
It noted that a number of issues have impacted on milk supply growth this year, including record farm input costs, labour constraints and other factors.
The processor also stated that both the voluntary retirement scheme and investments in processing facilities have successfully delivered additional peak processing capacity to Glanbia Co-op which will be available in 2023.
Commenting on the decision, Glanbia Co-op chair John Murphy said:
“Following a prompt analysis of milk supply trends for the peak milk supply period just completed, the board is pleased to give milk suppliers certainty on the policy for next year.
“Before this year’s slight reduction, we had seven successive years of milk supply growth following the abolition of EU milk quotas in 2015,” he said.
“We are now entering a period of more moderate supply growth as farmers optimise their farming systems and adjust to the changing policy landscape,” Murphy added.
Glanbia Co-op said that the peak supply policy for 2023 will be confirmed in the coming months following the completion of a milk planning census.
The board said that it is aiming to accommodate sustainable growth in milk supply and remove the threat of peak supply penalties.
However, this will depend on the outcome of the planning census and the successful commissioning of Glanbia’s continental cheese plant at Belview.
Glanbia Co-op stated that it will continue to accept new milk supply entrants from existing co-op members.
According to the interim report recently published by the Food Vision Dairy Group, milk production in Ireland is expected to grow by a compound annual rate of 1.7% between 2020 and 2030.
This is compared to an annual growth rate of 4.8% per annum over the period 2010-2020.