While milk markets are hardening, Commissioner for Agriculture Phil Hogan says farmers need to stop talking about skim milk powder (SMP) in intervention stocks.

“I wish they wouldn’t because they are giving their co-op an opportunity to talk down price,” he said. “We will manage the market in relation to the disposal of skim milk powder prudently in the interest of the farmer.”

He added that oil prices in many of the countries buying SMP is at the highest in four years, at $74/barrel. Some 24,066t of SMP was sold out of public intervention on Thursday at a minimum price of €1,050/t.

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However, Glanbia Ireland CEO Jim Bergin said that even if the EU sells 80,000t of SMP this year, it will still leave a significant balance of stocks in warehouses. “If you went back to when there was a calf milk replacer support, before the mid-term review, there was something like 50,000t going back into feed through that scheme,” Bergin said. “The pain farmers feel when price reductions occur is unnecessary if we had the right volatility schemes in place.”

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