IFA Says Glanbia Must be Leading Payer, Not Just Leading Player

IRELAND - IFA National Dairy Committee Chairman Tom Phelan said a huge level of anger was building up among Glanbia suppliers over milk price.
calendar icon 8 May 2019
clock icon 1 minute read

Mr Phelan said Glanbia was the only milk purchaser to have cut their pay-out to farmers in both February and March, and was firmly last in the March league.

Feedback from Glanbia farmer meetings and conversations with numerous suppliers clearly show just how dangerously out of touch Glanbia have become as to how important a benchmark milk price is to farmers.

"Glanbia rightly pride themselves in being a leading player in the dairy industry. But farmers supplying Glanbia legitimately expect them to be a leading payer, too. And in this respect, all the farmers I speak to at the moment are bitterly disappointed with the poor Glanbia milk price performance," Mr Phelan said.

"As a processor of milk, Glanbia Ingredients Ireland takes a margin of 3.2 percent after tax, the highest in the industry, which has been agreed with farmers to satisfy their lending commitments to fund expansion investment.

"Glanbia is a complex structure made up of many parts. It is well resourced, as shown by its ability to pay a €14m trading bonus to farmers earlier this spring,” he said.

"However, Glanbia must realise that ultimately, farmers will judge them on the milk price they pay every month. They must convince farmers that their ambition is not just to be a leading player, but also a leading payer."

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