More than €100m in loans has been issued to Glanbia milk suppliers under the MilkFlex scheme since it was launched in 2016, according to Glanbia Ireland and Finance Ireland. The average loan size issued to milk suppliers is €90,000 with farmers using the money for working capital, fertiliser, machinery, farm buildings, drainage and stock purchases.

Loan amounts range from €25,000 to €300,000. MilkFlex loans have an annual repayment rate of almost 4.2% with loans repayable over eight to 10 years. Loan repayment terms are also linked to dairy market volatility and seasonality. In times of good milk prices and higher volumes, the monthly loan repayments deducted from the farmer’s milk cheque are higher. But in times of weak milk prices, the monthly repayment reduces and will cease altogether if milk prices fall below 26c/l for more than three months.

Glanbia’s chief growth officer Sean Molloy said farmers experiencing cashflow challenges due to the drought and COVID-19 could avail of the MilkFlex scheme to fund working capital if needed.