Dairy co-ops will struggle to pick up all the milk produced over the weekend and will be unable to do so by Monday, according to a spokesperson for the Irish Co-operative Organisation Society (ICOS).

The spokesperson was speaking after Friday’s emergency meeting of stakeholders at the Department of Agriculture ended without agreement to end the blockade of roads and ports by protesters.

Many co-ops who sell diesel from their agribusiness stores halted the sale of diesel on Thursday over fears of shortages and are now prioritising their own diesel reserves for milk collection.

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“Most of the co-ops have enough fuel to struggle through Saturday and Sunday, but by Monday they will be out and what will happen then can only be described as a major crisis because if milk cannot be collected, it will have to be dumped on farms. Milk will be spilt by Monday,” the spokesperson said.

Such a scenario will mean that not only will farmers not be paid for their milk, but milk processing plants will cease production, risking lay-offs.

April, May and June are typically the peak months for milk processing in Ireland and milk supplies are running about 4% ahead of this time last year.

Most of the co-ops outsource milk collection to third-party contractors, some of whom have their own diesel storage tanks, while others rely on oil depots and service stations for their diesel.

Fuel shortage

As of Friday night, Fuels for Ireland, the group representing those involved in the distribution of fuel, said that over 500 stations, or almost one third of all filling stations, are out of fuel as a result of the blockade of ports and oil refineries.

According to one co-op manager who spoke to the Irish Farmers Journal, a milk collection lorry operating over two driver shifts and running for close to 24 hours per day will use over 300l of diesel each day.

Milk lorry drivers collecting milk from farms are exempt from tachograph rules.

IFA wants 'meaningful and effective measures'

Speaking after the meeting in Agriculture House, Irish Farmers Association (IFA) president Francie Gorman implored the Government to act in a more urgent and productive manner to solve the fuel and fertiliser crisis.

“We met the Tánaiste and Minister for Finance along with the Minister for Agriculture 10 days ago with proposals and nothing happened since,” he said.

“At today’s meeting, there were no proposals put on the table from the Government and that is simply not good enough.

“The Government needs to act immediately and substantially, start engaging with us in a more productive manner and put meaningful and effective measures in place,” the IFA president added.

ICMSA warns of tipping point

Speaking after the same meeting, Irish Creamery Milk Suppliers Association (ICMSA) president Denis Drennan said that it is imperative that the Government immediately brings forward proposals to address the crippling costs on the agriculture and other sectors and these need to be finalised over the weekend.

“We are aware of farmers who are unable to get feed or nuts from merchants who have been unable to get their supplies out of the ports.

“We know that milk processors are worried that by early next week - due to a lack of diesel - they will be unable to collect milk from our members supplying them,” Drennan said.