Kerry Agribusiness is making milk recording mandatory for all suppliers from January 2022, The Dealer understands.

This is in line with new rules on antimicrobial resistance coming into law, banning blanket dry cow therapy.

Penalties for non-compliance are yet to be worked out, or indeed who will even own the milk processor this time next year.

When one processor makes a moves like this, others are likely to follow.

To be fair to Kerry, they do offer some bit of a carrot with a €3 subvention per cow on the cost of recording. It’s not quite as attractive as the Dairygold incentive of 0.1c/l, equivalent to about €5/cow, but it’s a damn sight better than what the other milk processors are offering – nada.