The possibility of a milk strike in Northern Ireland in response to low prices was endorsed by the dairy farmers at a crisis industry meeting on Monday of this week.

The meeting, organised by Farmers For Action (FFA), Fair Price Farming, Holstein NI and the NI Agricultural Producers’ Association (NIAPA) focused on the ongoing crisis facing the dairy sector due to sustained low milk prices.

Over 200 farmers were in attendance, with speakers from each organisation putting forward their own reasons for and against a strike, before a vote was put to the floor.

The motion, proposed by William Taylor from FFA, was that dairy farmers reserve the option to strike should there be no increase in base milk price to match returns currently available from the market (around 30p per litre).

However, Taylor said any strike should be the last resort and only progressed if formal negotiations between processors and the various organisations (he would like to include the Ulster Farmers Union) fail to deliver an increase in milk price. The outcome from the floor was overwhelmingly in favour of the motion.

Support

However, not all of the organisations were in support of the motion. Charlie Weir of Fair Price Farming stated that, while he understood the reasons put forward, he was not in favour of striking.

Weir said milk in the tank has already cost the farmer money to produce, and they cannot afford to go without the income. He was backed by John Martin of Holstein NI, who said a strike was not his preferred choice of action.

During discussion between the floor and speakers, it was asked whether if only a small percentage of farmers go on strike there would be any significant impact on supply to affect price.

Taylor answered by stating the threat of striking should make processors take action. He indicated that FFA members in other parts of Britain are planning on strike action but watching NI with interest to see if they take the lead.

The next step for the various farm groups is to meet with all processors as soon as possible. Taylor indicated that he would be inviting all parties to talks.

Time frame

So if processors do not deliver on a higher milk price, when would FFA call for a strike?

Taylor maintained that NI milk is a highly prized commodity in December, as production in the Republic of Ireland drops off due to spring-calving systems.

If negotiations fail and strike action was to be called for, it was suggested that December would be the most opportune time to act.

However, with production levels starting to rise on dairy farms and winter bonuses kicking in, whether farmers follow through in support remains to be seen.

The vote on striking was not the only issue raised by farmers at the meeting.

Call for Stormont to match EU aid

At the meeting on Monday night, there were renewed calls for the Stormont Executive to match fund the £4.8m aid package coming to farmers as part of the NI allocation of a €350m EU exceptional adjustment aid package. The aid package was announced by the European Commission in July.

In the Republic of Ireland, the Government has already agreed to match fund their €11m allocation as part of a flexible loan scheme.

John Martin of Holstein NI called on farmers to lobby their MLA on this subject, so that there is sufficient money available to help farmers across all sectors.

However, without the match funding, Martin maintained that the money should go to dairy farmers only by way of a second voluntary milk reduction scheme run in the early part of 2017.

That is not in line with the thinking of the UFU, which has argued for the £4.8m of aid to go on animal health measures, such as compensation for calves persistently infected with BVD, and on sheep vaccines. Any remaining money could also be used to reduce the cost of soil sampling.

However, the message from Linda Dillon, chair of the agriculture committee at Stormont, who attended the meeting on Monday, was that all farm organisations must voice a cohesive message to have any hope of securing additional money.

The point made by William Taylor is that if match funding could be achieved there would be enough money to run the milk reduction scheme (the first phase is to cost around £2.6m) while also undertaking the various initiatives proposed by the UFU.

Ultimately, it will be for the union to decide if it wants to join other farm lobby groups in approaching Stormont for more cash.

Proposals for match funding must be submitted to Stormont by 21 November. DAERA has until 30 November to notify the European Commission on how it will use the allocation of adjustment aid.

When asked how many will be producing milk in two years if things continue as they are, only three people put their hand up.

Producers united in their calls for forward pricing of milk

While the four speakers may not have agreed on the merits of strike action, they were united in their calls for forward notification on milk pricing, as happens in Britain.

The farm groups want at least three weeks prior notice of the next month’s milk price.

Both Charlie Weir and John Martin remarked that processors repeatedly use forward selling of milk as a reason for not increasing price when spot prices are high. But if they forward sell milk, then they should be able to notify producers well in advance of the price the following month.

The point was made that this would give producers a better outlook as to whether they can produce milk at the projected price, or whether they should dry off earlier, sell off cull cows or alter concentrate levels to suit.

Weir would also like to see better transparency in the market.

He highlighted that back in 2014, butter prices were €4,400/t and milk price was at 32ppl. Today, butter prices are at a similar price, yet base price is 22ppl.

In addition, with NI processors having a different product mix, he questioned how they can have similar base prices.