A number of bigger dairy co-ops are considering tougher measures from next month to get remaining suppliers certified on quality assurance.

While five dairy co-ops have done so, this includes just one of the big co-ops: Kerry. The other four are smaller: North Cork, Clonagh Dairies, Limerick Liquid Milk Producer Group and Centenary/Thurles, which has just gotten compliance.

Co-op boards have been slow to refuse collection from farms not certified. However, Kerry reached full certification only after warning suppliers it would stop collecting from those not certified.

Nationally, 96% of milk suppliers have applied to the Bord Bia Sustainable Dairy Assurance Scheme (SDAS) and 88% have been audited and certified. Centenary Thurles is the largest of the Glanbia corporate shareholders, has 350 suppliers and assembles approximately 150m litres of milk, the majority of which is sent to Ballyragget.

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