The chairman of the Irish Farmer’s Association (IFA), Tom Phelan has praised Kerry Co-op for increasing its July milk price for recognising that ‘there is scope for processors to lift their prices’.
Kerry recently announced its half-year financial report and hosted a media event in Dublin yesterday where it revealed plans of a new payment scheme for its milk suppliers as farmers continue to struggle as a result of this year's adverse weather.
"There's a package of things we're looking at in terms of different types of support. We have to see how the next couple of months trade out, how the weather goes... but certainly we won't be found wanting as an organisation to help out our farmers,” he told reporters at the event.
“At the end of the day Kerry Group doesn't set the milk price, it's a market-driven event but we are doing everything we possibly can to drive the volatility out of it.”
Cashflow Boost
Speaking on the IFA website, Phelan said that he expected other co-ops to follow this example. He calls on retailers to support farmer suppliers with a ‘much-needed cash-flow boost’.
“At a time when farmers continue to struggle with the weather-related events and fodder availability, co-op boards need to redouble their effort to reflect the European market,” he said.
Tom Phelan said while co-ops have brought forward different measures to support dairy farmers, there is no question that paying the highest milk price that market returns allow is always the best support for farmers.
Phelan recently made a similar announcement, where he praised Iceland last week for their efforts in providing support with farmers by paying an extra 2c/l for fresh milk from Irish suppliers.
© 2018 Checkout – your source for the latest Irish retail news. Article by Aidan O’Sullivan. Click subscribe to sign up for the Checkout print edition.
