In a bid to protect themselves from continued bad milk prices, Irish dairy farmers are planning to postpone capital expenditure projects in 2016.

In a survey of 300 dairy farmers carried out by the Irish Farmers Journal, 78.7% of respondents said they would halt any plans to spend money on sheds or parlour extensions.

The 300 respondents were able to provide multiple answers to how they plan on cutting costs this year.

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Half of all of those surveyed said they will cut down on their meal bills this year, over 36% said that they plan on selling more young stock and, with the breeding season about to commence, one fifth said that they will use less AI.

On the lower end of the scale, just 15% of respondents said they would spread less fertiliser or milk less cows than they did last year.

IFA shouts ‘stop’

At a meeting of the IFA National Dairy committee this week, committee members from across the country called for an immediate stop to any further milk price cuts, in the face of severe cash-flow challenges on farms.

The committee members will contact co-op board members accordingly in the coming days, as boards prepare to make decisions on the March milk price.

Co-ops will set March milk prices in the coming days.