Watch: Supermarket milk prices - 'if we lose the farmer, we're lost'
Supermarkets do not give "two hoots about the farmer or how he has to work or how he has to produce milk".
That is according to one dairy farmer who is also a councillor in Co. Mayo.
Independent Councillor John O’Malley told Agriland that it is not paying farmers to stay in "liquid milk".
"There are liquid milk farmers going out of business, every year there's less and less liquid milk farmers because it's not paying them, with the price of meal and the price of labour and everything.
"They they can't dry off because they have to produce a certain percentage of milk at a certain time every day.
"They have to produce a certain percentage of the total amount of their liquid milk for the year within the four months, November, December, January and February, it's seven days a week," Cllr. O’Malley said.
He said supermarkets simply do not realise the pressure they are putting on farmers when they cut fresh milk prices at the checkout.
High quality milk
Tesco Ireland, Supervalu, Aldi and Lidl all reduced the price of milk on their shelves last week.
"It has a knock on effect right down to the farmer, they don't seem to give a hoot about the farmer or how they get on or how they makes their living - it is totally unfair, it is unjust," Cllr. O’Malley said.
"They think it's just a matter of milking cows and that's it, they don't realise the work involved and the rules and regulations around producing high quality milk - from the somatic cell count, to the bacteria count to the cleanliness of the entire process, some people don't take that into account at all," he added.
The dairy farmer, who milks 35 cows, does not believe that some consumers fully understand the level of work and commitment involved to put fresh milk on supermarket shelves every day.
"Some don't understand what's involved, there's no way.
But many consumers are also very sympathetic to the position now facing farmers as Agriland found out when it spoke to shoppers in a rural town in Co. Mayo.
Cllr. O'Malley said it is also important to recognise that farmers are currently getting paid less than they previously were to produce milk by the co-ops.
He said this makes it harder for dairy farmers to stand by and watch supermarkets reduce the price of fresh milk.
"If there's anymore cuts to the price of milk by supermarkets - because they could do it again - then there will have to be some kind of a protest outside those shops to let them know what they are doing, to show them the pressure they are putting on farmers," Cllr. O’Malley said.
Additional reporting by Kayley Simpson
