Speaking at the Positive Farmers conference in Cork on Wednesday, Kevin Lane, chief executive of Ornua, said he was optimistic about milk prices for 2017.

He again forecasted a milk price of 30c/l to 33c/l in 2017. However, he cautioned that there are still challenges ahead, including the effect of Brexit, currency volatility and how the large stocks sitting in intervention will be managed.

He spoke about the volatilty challenge where swings were up to 21c/l in recent years. To help farmers, he said that Ornua now has the equivalent of 220m litres of milk locked into long-term fixed milk schemes with a further 100m litres expected in 2017.

Responding to questions from the floor, whether Ornua and farmers should develop their own infant formula brand, Lane said he would not be against looking at a Kerrygold infant formula brand.

However, he believed Ornua directors would not allow this as it would place Ornua in direct competition with members who already have close relationships with infant formula companies.

He echoed views from the floor that there was tremendous value creation in infant formula, but harvesting this may be difficult due to the huge brand investment required.

He added that this would move Kerrygold into the pharma sector and questioned if this is what the Kerrygold brand values best represents. The conference continues on Thursday and you can follow the coverage on www.farmers journal.ie

Meanwhile, ahead of co-ops setting price, IFA dairy chair Sean O’Leary said a minimum price of 30c/l plus VAT would be fully justified on December milk, with a view to reaching at least 33c/l before peak.

The IFA dairy committee is lobbying co-op board members ahead of their December milk price decisions.

See pages 30 and 31