Co-op boards must ‘fight to hold milk price’ – IFA

The IFA has called on all co-ops to hold milk prices as boards gear up this week to set prices for the month of September.

IFA dairy chair Stephen Arthur maintains that there have been positive indications from international dairy markets after a turbulent August.

Arthur stated that the past three Global Dairy Trade auctions have shown positive trends as markets strengthened in Europe and the US, giving co-op boards sufficient reasons for holding September’s price.

“While it is early days, the recent positive sentiment in markets gives dairy processors much more confidence in terms of the short to medium-term outlook,” he said.

“Input costs on farms remain stubbornly high. This, combined with continued difficult weather conditions, has led to a substantial increase in the costs of production.

“Every single board member knows how hard this autumn is on dairy farms. They must go into their boardrooms and fight to hold milk price this month.”

The dairy chair added that “every cent is needed on farms” to covert these high input costs.