This time of year, the major dairy co-operatives publish their results on how they performed the previous year.
For the second week in a row, more space has been allocated on the agribusiness pages of the Irish Farmers Journal to report on and analyse these results.
While each business is different, a common theme ran through all the dairy processors that were reported on.
Full financial details were published on each section of the business and senior management and board representation made themselves available to be quizzed by the Irish Farmers Journal on their performance over the past year and to give an honest assessment of their outlook for the rest of the current one.
Ownership structure
Irish dairy processing is dominated by a co-operative ownership structure and co-ops are required by legislation to publish such information and report to their members.
Historically, there was co-op ownership in the Irish meat processing industry, but it was never the success story that it was in dairy processing.
Irish meat processing is privately owned and, therefore, has no obligation to publish financial information on the performance of the business beyond statutory obligations.
As a result, while dairy farmers have comprehensive information available on the co-op that processes their milk, beef producers have none, with the exception of a few smaller processors which publish an annual report.
The result of this is that, irrespective of where farmgate prices are, dairy farmers in general have confidence that the price they are receiving reflects the market, whereas beef producers are more typically dubious about the prices they are being paid.
When beef prices are increasing or even stable, this is less of an issue, but if the market is falling, as was the case in the early weeks of this year, then farmers become frustrated by factories.
Farmer confidence
A major cause of beef producer frustration on these occasions is the feeling that they are being ripped off - even if that isn’t the case.
Beef producers in Ireland have little insight on what happens beyond the farm gate or how well the factory they are supplying is performing.
If a farmer has a shed full of expensive cattle that were bought at the top of the market and they see factory price falling when they are about to sell, they have few tools to explain why the beef market isn’t performing in the way they expected.
The Agri-Food Regulator has taken one small step to address this, but it is far from a giant leap for the beef industry.
It now publishes a weekly aggregate composite price, calculated from price information reported to the Department of Agriculture by the main Irish beef processors.
This is something where there was nothing - and is therefore welcome - but it fails to give either the insight or the confidence in beef price fairness that farmers need.
The outworking of this structure is that when factory quotes for cattle fall over a prolonged period, farmer frustration often turns to anger.
Greater insight to meat processing in US
The irony is that if factory operators choose to do so, there is most likely a plausible explanation on why cattle prices are at whatever level they are at.
In the United States, where there is exceptional transparency in values and stocks of various meat products along the supply chain, the major beef processors have been losing money for the past couple of years.
US cattle prices have been at record highs, driven by the fact that the US herd is at a 75-year low.
Factories there have been unable to recover the higher price they have had to pay for cattle from the market - hence, they are losing money.
In the US, frequent investigations of the industry have been carried out by the department of justice.
The most recent was reported in US media earlier this week, saying that the justice department’s antitrust division is investigating whether large meatpackers have engaged in criminal anti-competitive conduct.
Comment – beef processors can learn from dairy counterparts
Unlike the case with the dairy industry over recent weeks, we have no idea if Irish beef processors managed to recover the higher prices they paid for cattle in 2025 from the market.
With a couple of exceptions, no audited accounts will be made public and factory management is reluctant to actively engage with farmers.
At a recent Irish Farmers Journal beef meeting in Co Laois, major processors declined an invitation to participate, as did their representative trade association.
There has always been a greater trading dimension for farmers involved in beef production than is the case for their dairy counterparts, who are almost exclusively production-focused.
Dairy farmers in general have confidence in their processor paying them the market rate for their milk, but this often isn’t the case for beef producers sending cattle to the factory.
Greater transparency and engagement by beef processors would build farmer confidence and, ultimately, that would benefit the processors too.
Read more
Aurivo’s milk supply and profit grew in 2025
Ornua reports steady performance in 2025
Earnings and sales rise at Lakeland Dairies
This time of year, the major dairy co-operatives publish their results on how they performed the previous year.
For the second week in a row, more space has been allocated on the agribusiness pages of the Irish Farmers Journal to report on and analyse these results.
While each business is different, a common theme ran through all the dairy processors that were reported on.
Full financial details were published on each section of the business and senior management and board representation made themselves available to be quizzed by the Irish Farmers Journal on their performance over the past year and to give an honest assessment of their outlook for the rest of the current one.
Ownership structure
Irish dairy processing is dominated by a co-operative ownership structure and co-ops are required by legislation to publish such information and report to their members.
Historically, there was co-op ownership in the Irish meat processing industry, but it was never the success story that it was in dairy processing.
Irish meat processing is privately owned and, therefore, has no obligation to publish financial information on the performance of the business beyond statutory obligations.
As a result, while dairy farmers have comprehensive information available on the co-op that processes their milk, beef producers have none, with the exception of a few smaller processors which publish an annual report.
The result of this is that, irrespective of where farmgate prices are, dairy farmers in general have confidence that the price they are receiving reflects the market, whereas beef producers are more typically dubious about the prices they are being paid.
When beef prices are increasing or even stable, this is less of an issue, but if the market is falling, as was the case in the early weeks of this year, then farmers become frustrated by factories.
Farmer confidence
A major cause of beef producer frustration on these occasions is the feeling that they are being ripped off - even if that isn’t the case.
Beef producers in Ireland have little insight on what happens beyond the farm gate or how well the factory they are supplying is performing.
If a farmer has a shed full of expensive cattle that were bought at the top of the market and they see factory price falling when they are about to sell, they have few tools to explain why the beef market isn’t performing in the way they expected.
The Agri-Food Regulator has taken one small step to address this, but it is far from a giant leap for the beef industry.
It now publishes a weekly aggregate composite price, calculated from price information reported to the Department of Agriculture by the main Irish beef processors.
This is something where there was nothing - and is therefore welcome - but it fails to give either the insight or the confidence in beef price fairness that farmers need.
The outworking of this structure is that when factory quotes for cattle fall over a prolonged period, farmer frustration often turns to anger.
Greater insight to meat processing in US
The irony is that if factory operators choose to do so, there is most likely a plausible explanation on why cattle prices are at whatever level they are at.
In the United States, where there is exceptional transparency in values and stocks of various meat products along the supply chain, the major beef processors have been losing money for the past couple of years.
US cattle prices have been at record highs, driven by the fact that the US herd is at a 75-year low.
Factories there have been unable to recover the higher price they have had to pay for cattle from the market - hence, they are losing money.
In the US, frequent investigations of the industry have been carried out by the department of justice.
The most recent was reported in US media earlier this week, saying that the justice department’s antitrust division is investigating whether large meatpackers have engaged in criminal anti-competitive conduct.
Comment – beef processors can learn from dairy counterparts
Unlike the case with the dairy industry over recent weeks, we have no idea if Irish beef processors managed to recover the higher prices they paid for cattle in 2025 from the market.
With a couple of exceptions, no audited accounts will be made public and factory management is reluctant to actively engage with farmers.
At a recent Irish Farmers Journal beef meeting in Co Laois, major processors declined an invitation to participate, as did their representative trade association.
There has always been a greater trading dimension for farmers involved in beef production than is the case for their dairy counterparts, who are almost exclusively production-focused.
Dairy farmers in general have confidence in their processor paying them the market rate for their milk, but this often isn’t the case for beef producers sending cattle to the factory.
Greater transparency and engagement by beef processors would build farmer confidence and, ultimately, that would benefit the processors too.
Read more
Aurivo’s milk supply and profit grew in 2025
Ornua reports steady performance in 2025
Earnings and sales rise at Lakeland Dairies
SHARING OPTIONS