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There should be a “meaningful increase” in the price paid for July milk supplied, according to Irish Farmers' Association (IFA) dairy chair Stephen Arthur.
He said market returns for processors on Irish dairy products suggest there is scope to increase the price paid to dairy farmers for the milk they produced last month.
“The Ornua PPI showed further increases in July, which points to a continued demand for Irish dairy produce. Processors in Denmark and the Netherlands, among others, have already increased their August milk price,” he said.
Arthur warned that “Irish processors have to follow suit”.
Supply lagging
The IFA pointed out that global milk supply is lagging behind 2021 and said this is likely to remain constrained for the remainder of this year due to the elevated costs of agricultural inputs showing no sign of abating.
Arthur said: “In many parts of the country, grass growth is depressed and the cost of production continues to rise.
“If processors want to have adequate supplies of milk into the autumn, then they need to step forward now with a price increase to give farmers confidence that they can make a reasonable return over the next few months.”
The IFA dairy chair was speaking ahead of the confirmation from milk processors on the prices they are set to pay their farmer producers for July milk supplied.
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