Glanbia holds member milk price at 33cpl

Glanbia will pay its member suppliers 33 cent per litre (cpl) including VAT for March manufacturing milk supplies.

Glanbia will hold its March milk price for members at 33 cent per litre (cpl) including VAT.

Based on recognised indicators it is generally accepted that dairy markets are currently returning approximately 27cpl (including VAT) and have been for some time. Recognising the impact of recent exceptional weather conditions, Glanbia Ireland (GI) is continuing to provide support and will pay a base price for March of 30 cpl including VAT for manufacturing milk at 3.6% fat and 3.3% protein. In addition, Glanbia Co-op will make a payment to members of 3 cpl including VAT for March manufacturing and liquid milk supplies at 3.6% fat and 3.3% protein.

In a policy change approved by the Board, Glanbia Co-op support payments will now reflect the actual constituents of milk deliveries.

Henry Corbally, Glanbia Chairman, said that March had been an extremely difficult month on Glanbia supplier farms, with temperatures below normal, rainfall of more than twice the long term average and grass growth significantly below expected levels. As a result, supply volumes, milk constituents and farm costs were adversely affected.

“While dairy markets continue to be relatively weak, Glanbia is very conscious of the challenges currently faced by our suppliers and we will continue to do as much as possible to support them,” he said.

The Glanbia Chairman highlighted a number of initiatives taken by Glanbia in 2018 to support milk suppliers:

• On 4 April it was announced that a support payment of €50 per tonne will be paid on all ruminant feed, calf milk replacer and certain categories of straights purchased from GI by Glanbia Co-op members during the month of April. This payment will be made in addition to all other previously announced schemes;
• To help with feed shortages Glanbia Ireland has arranged for the import of 1,200 tonnes of Alfalfa from Spain and over 5,000 tonnes of fodder from other sources in Ireland;
• On 3 April it was announced that Glanbia would pay 20 cent per litre (including VAT) on milk volumes that were lost due to the impact of Storm Emma (in the event that a farm insurance policy does not cover such losses);
• To help farmers deal with the challenging Spring, the Glanbia Ireland farm team held a series of animal nutrition clinics at 19 locations from Monday 26th to Wednesday 28th March and will continue to engage as needed with our farmers;
• Glanbia Ireland (GI) paid an adverse weather payment of 1 cpl on all February milk supplies;
• A significant number of Glanbia Ireland suppliers are benefitting from their participation in three and five year Fixed Milk Price schemes and;
• Milk supplier members are eligible for the 2018 Trading Bonus Scheme, which will reward farmer members of the Co-op for purchases made from Glanbia Ireland. For milk supplier members of Glanbia Co-op, the 2018 Trading Bonus Scheme is potentially worth up to 0.75 cent per litre (cpl) on all milk delivered in 2018.

Note: A base 3cpl of Co-op Support was paid to eligible Members in April milk accounts with constituent adjustment to be reflected in the coming months. It was not possible to make the constituent payment adjustment for March milk payment as the Co-op IT payment system needs to be refined and tested to implement the revised policy.

First Published 12 April 2018