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“It’s hard to tell the grain farmer right now that there is a future but there is,” Bergin told delegates at the 2017 Agricultural Science Association (ASA) conference.
Glanbia is the biggest buyer and user of grain in Ireland. It therefore receives criticism from tillage farmers who believe Glanbia is not doing enough to support domestic prices.
Prices for the current season are forecast to be similar to last year.
“There has to be a future for the grain industry … there are a fine lot of distilleries going up,” Bergin said.
The GM debate
He pointed to the growing sense that certain consumers want traceable, non-GM foods. He said for Irish food companies to be able to operate in this space, a domestic grain sector is critical.
“Some 40% of our grain is going into high-end markets.
“Grain and native grain play and important role … The consumer, they want to know what went into the cow and what went into my milk or dairy product.
“There is an expectation that butter in Germany in two or three years’ time will be non-GMO,” Bergin said.
He added that it is “very difficult to marshal, very difficult to verify feed that goes into the cow”.
Prices remain sensitive to weather and yield
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