DEAR EDITOR,

The tumbling milk price is scary for a variety of reasons.

It’s obvious that the farmers’ return is our prime concern, but other factors need examination.

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Industry people are unable to tell us how low prices will fall, or for how long the trough will last.

This is very scary indeed. It is true that when the market is buoyant our commodity-reliant model can be competitive, but it can leave us very exposed when we hit market conditions like we now have.

Our shining light is butter and it shines brightest out of a Kerrygold wrapper. It is time to examine if we are maximising our unique product – are we self-inflicting injury to ourselves in the marketplace by competing with each other?

What we will see over the next while is that the products that include Irish ingredients will not reduce in price, despite our take of lower ingredient costs and take is the operative word.

We are price takers.

This begs the question, is there any other way?

Are we consigned to this recurring cycle of rollercoaster milk prices, or can we add more value to our work?

I know how fiercely individual milk co-ops defend their independence, but equally their responsibility to their shareholders should include studies to explore other options to future-proof the farmer from market swings.

I’d be very surprised if such a study failed to identify significant savings on the one hand and, more critically, plans for adding value to our products.

We could put figures on elements of the potential savings, but that is a job for experts.

Instead can we just start with the principle that there must be a better way to protect ourselves in the future and that the industry will agree to examine what might be possible?