Self-Destruction At Marketing Level Needs To Be Avoided.  –  ICMSA.

With the price of milk below the cost of production and with farm costs escalating by the day, dairy farmers across the country are becoming increasingly angry at the potential damage being done in the US butter market due to nearly direct competition between Ornua and Tirlan, two Irish co-operatives who should be complimenting rather than undermining each other, according to Mr. Denis Drennan, President of ICMSA.  

For years, both these companies have lectured farmers in relation to the need for sustainability, SDAS etc and the need to move up the value chain and with the flick of a pen, it would appear that farmers having met all these standards are going back down the value chain due to the failure of both companies to develop a joint strategy along with other Irish co-operatives for butter in the US market.

To put it mildly, the situation developing at marketing level in the Irish dairy sector is ridiculous said Mr. Drennan, and there is only one person that is going to suffer and that is the dairy farmer.   Yet again, farmers face being undermined by decisions further up the supply chain and what is really worrying is, it is companies that are owned by farmers involved on this occasion.  

The price we are receiving for milk today is similar to New Zealand, a commodity producer and one would have to ask the question, what is happening in relation to the processing and marketing of Irish dairy produce.   Demand after demand is being placed on dairy farmers by milk processors and it is time that Dairy Industry Ireland and indeed ICOS looked inside their own doors, see what’s happening there and fix it.   Farmers simply cannot continue to take the hit for the failure of our milk processors to work strategically on global markets and competing against each other on global markets on price simply has to stop.   Instead of moving up the value chain, dairy farmers are now genuinely worried that we are going to undermine a market that is delivering for us, delivering value added and they need assurances that this will not happen.    Ornua is stating that they are delivering a 2 cents per litre premium on every litre of Irish milk that comes through Ornua, what is the future of this premium?

Producing milk sustainably needs a sustainable price, the lack of co-operative thinking is undermining our ability to secure a sustainable price both in the short and long term and it is about time that the sellers of Irish dairy produce on international markets got their house in order, concluded Mr. Drennan.

ENDS               10 August 2026.

Denis Drennan is at (086) 8389401.

ICMSA Head Office (061) 314677.