With farm gate prices for milk in Northern Ireland being announced, the Ulster Farmers’ Union (UFU) has warned that many NI dairy farmers are “under severe pressure” this winter, as it expects milk prices to decline by a third into the new year.
The UFU anticipates that the price paid to farmers for milk will fall below production cost, reflected in the September base for NI which reportedly sits at approximately 35.5-36p/L, “making it an untenable situation for farmers in the long-term”.
In Northern Ireland, Lakeland Dairies recently declared that a price of 32.3p/L will be paid for milk supplied in October, which marks a reduction of 3.5p/L on the price paid in September.
Milk prices
UFU deputy president, John McLenaghan said: “It’s a bleak outlook for our dairy farmers here in Northern Ireland this winter.
“Whole milk has seen an inflationary increase of 12.6% since 2020 and though retail prices continue to rise significantly, by around 37% in five years, many NI farmers are seeing a decrease in the price received for their product.
“This imbalance between low farm gate milk prices and premium rates for milk in stores is a result of big supermarket chains using milk as a loss leader to draw customers in.
“It not only leaves farmers struggling to make a fair wage, but consumers aren’t seeing the benefit of these low milk rates at the checkout either.”
The UFU has said that the falling milk prices are putting immense pressure on our dairy farmers, while food inflation continues to put financial pressure on the consumer, making it unsustainable overall.
“If farmers continue getting short changed for the products that stock our shelves, they will inevitably be forced out of business, supplies will drop, food security will worsen and prices at the till will continue to soar,” McLenaghan added.
GPS theft
Separately, the UFU has issued a call to farmers to take extra care of their GPS equipment, following reports of thefts recently.
UFU legislation chair, David McCracken said: “GPS equipment is being targeted by thieves with a number of farms reporting that systems have been stolen from tractors in the past week alone.”
The UFU has urged farmers to review and update the current security measures on their farms and to remove GPS equipment from machinery when not in use.
McCracken noted: “Farmers should also take photographs of the kit, record serial numbers and activate pin numbers to help recover the kit should it be stolen.
“You can also mark the GPS devices so that they are no longer attractive for resale by adding a postcode or farm name.”
