€20m Support through Glanbia Extended Credit (EC) Scheme

13 July 2018: Glanbia Co-operative Society (“Glanbia Co-op”) is to make up to €20 million available in an Extended Credit Scheme to assist milk suppliers overcome the severe drought now affecting the entire Glanbia region.

The Glanbia Co-op Extended Credit Scheme will support qualifying Members by offering interest-free deferred payment terms for the purchase of dairy feed and fertilizer from Glanbia Ireland over the next nine weeks.

Glanbia Chairman Martin Keane said that soil moisture deficits are now over 90 mm in the majority of the Glanbia catchment area, with feed demand currently running at four to five times the rate of grass growth. “This is placing a severe strain on our dairy farmers, who are forced to spend heavily on supplementary inputs for their herds,” he said.

The full details and an application form for the Extended Credit (EC) Scheme will be communicated to all eligible Glanbia Co-op Members in the coming days.

The key terms of the EC Scheme include:

• Glanbia Co-op members that supply milk to Glanbia Ireland can apply to avail of interest-free deferred payment terms on qualifying purchases made from Glanbia Ireland;
• The Scheme will cover 16 July to 15 September purchases of (1) all dairy compound feeds and dairy coarse rations including eligible straights* and (2) fertilizer products for grassland;
• Purchases made under the Scheme will be paid for by deduction from the supplier’s milk account in six equal instalments in July, August and September of 2019 & 2020;~
• No interest will be charged by Glanbia Ireland on the deferred payments;
• Eligibility is confined to Glanbia Co-op Members in the Republic of Ireland with a valid Milk Supply Agreement with Glanbia Ireland;
• Qualifying Members will be required to sign a payment instruction committing to the deferred payment for qualifying purchases under the EC Scheme.
• Participation in this Scheme is subject to credit assessment and individual limits.

Glanbia Chairman Martin Keane said: “Supporting our Members is a key element of our Co-op’s strategy. We believe that making interest-free extended credit available to milk supplier Members for qualifying feed and fertilizer purchases for the next two months is appropriate given the scale of the current challenges”.

Martin Keane said that the inclusion of fertilizer in the Extended Credit Scheme would ensure that Glanbia Co-op Members could take full advantage when grass growth resumes, in order to replenish seriously depleted winter fodder reserves to the maximum extent possible.

Glanbia Advance Payment (GAP) Scheme

Martin Keane reminded Glanbia Co-op milk supplier Members that interest-free support funds are also available from the Glanbia Advance Payment (GAP) 2018 Milk Scheme, which provides interest-free cashflow support with drawdown and repayment linked to movements in milk price. This means that a GAP Advance of 1cpl is available to Co-op Members on April and May 2018 milk supply volumes.

Funding and Delivery

The funding for this Scheme is being provided to Glanbia Ireland by Glanbia Co-op. The Scheme will be operated by Glanbia Ireland – Co-op Members interested in availing of the Scheme should contact their local Glanbia Ireland representative.

Notes:

*Qualifying straights eligible for the EC Scheme are straights fed to dairy cows which include: Soya Hulls, Beet Pulp, Rolled Cereals, Maize, Distillers, Gluten, Soyabean Meal and Rape Meal.

First Published 13 July 2018