Lakeland Dairies and LacPatrick Co-op members contacted by the Irish Farmers Journal welcomed the imminence of amalgamation proposals, but had questions to be clarified.

“I’d love to see LacPatrick and Lakeland merge, but not at any cost,” said ICMSA deputy president and Co Cavan Lakeland supplier Lorcan McCabe. “We’d be a force to be reckoned with – but not if there is a huge amount of debt,” he added, reluctant to “pay for the inefficiency that LacPatrick carried in the past”.

Co Cavan Lakeland member Gerard O’Reilly was positive but asked: “What is it going to cost Lakeland suppliers to take on LacPatrick? How will it strengthen the overall co-op into paying the top milk price?”

Lakeland suppliers noted their co-op’s interest in accessing LacPatrick’s Artigarvan plant in case of a hard Brexit. “Our milk is going to Bailieborough and we hope it will continue after Brexit,” said a Co Tyrone farmer. “But in the worst-case scenario, it would be good for Lakeland to have more capacity up North.”

On the LacPatrick side, former board member and IFA representative Brian Treanor from Co Monaghan said amalgamation was “a really good choice”. Yet “when you become part of a bigger organisation, control becomes more remote”, he said. “A lot of thought will have to go into governance structures.” Several members were nostalgic of the Town of Monaghan era. On the liquid milk business, they hoped the Champion brand would live on.

Co Monaghan supplier Kieran McDermott wondered if rules would change for LacPatrick members. “Will there be a share-up? A burden on farmers to contribute to the new entity?” His bottom line position, however, matched that of his Lakeland colleagues: “Consolidation brings efficiency, but it has to deliver a better price for farmers.”

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