DEAR SIR:

A question put to Kevin Lane at the Positive Farmers Conference is worth asking of all people involved in dairy processing in Ireland – “Are we destined in Ireland to be at the bottom of international milk price due to our industry structure, product mix and route to market?” While Mr Lane did answer the question, I as a young farmer was not reassured by the answer and would like to hear from the chairs of the co-ops in particular as to how they see the future. As farmers, we invest, take the risks, comply with ever-increasing conditions but have little certainty as to future return.

Every time milk price fluctuates, more wealth is sucked out of farmers’ pockets and into the people that lie between the farmer and the market. As I see it, we are in a new era, post-quotas, but have an old industry structure and old thinking.

What is the plan for the new milk that is going to be produced over the next few years? We are already up by over a billion litres post-quota and more to come. On top of this we have potential for new uncertainty due to Brexit and Trump. As I see it we must move now to plan for new milk, new politics and hopefully new markets.