Market analyst and Irish Farmers Journal contributor Chris Walkland was the first to speak and he estimates the extra production in the UK and Ireland since April to mid-October amounts to 1,552m litres more in total compared to the last seven year average. He went on to explain that an extra 2% in EU production is equivalent to 3m tonnes of milk and that it all needed to be exported when the market is poor.
Unlike many other commentators he said Ireland was not to blame for low milk and cheese prices in the UK. He estimated that imports of Irish cheddar product into the UK were more or less similar to other years. He said, “the problem is global demand in 2014 was 1.7% and slowing, and, now dairy farmers are producing more milk so it simply makes the market worse.”
In relation to the UK dairy crisis Walkland said the dairy industry needs to stand up and fight for the home market that is being taken away by ‘trendy’ drinks such as soy milk, almond milk, etc.
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Agrihive
The concept of the Agrihive summit is the brainchild of Australian James Walker who developed a similar initiative in response to the Australian drought that has crippled and is still crippling the Australian dairy industry. Walker initiated a discussion with UK dairy business people recognising that the UK dairy industry has problems and together they called this meeting today in the New Zealand House Haymarket, London.
Agrihive wants to connect with people from outside the industry to generate solutions and hence there are people in attendance with little or no connection to the agri industry.
More key messages to come on farmersjournal.ie and in print on Thursday.
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Market analyst and Irish Farmers Journal contributor Chris Walkland was the first to speak and he estimates the extra production in the UK and Ireland since April to mid-October amounts to 1,552m litres more in total compared to the last seven year average. He went on to explain that an extra 2% in EU production is equivalent to 3m tonnes of milk and that it all needed to be exported when the market is poor.
Unlike many other commentators he said Ireland was not to blame for low milk and cheese prices in the UK. He estimated that imports of Irish cheddar product into the UK were more or less similar to other years. He said, “the problem is global demand in 2014 was 1.7% and slowing, and, now dairy farmers are producing more milk so it simply makes the market worse.”
In relation to the UK dairy crisis Walkland said the dairy industry needs to stand up and fight for the home market that is being taken away by ‘trendy’ drinks such as soy milk, almond milk, etc.
Agrihive
The concept of the Agrihive summit is the brainchild of Australian James Walker who developed a similar initiative in response to the Australian drought that has crippled and is still crippling the Australian dairy industry. Walker initiated a discussion with UK dairy business people recognising that the UK dairy industry has problems and together they called this meeting today in the New Zealand House Haymarket, London.
Agrihive wants to connect with people from outside the industry to generate solutions and hence there are people in attendance with little or no connection to the agri industry.
More key messages to come on farmersjournal.ie and in print on Thursday.
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