THE TEAGASC National Dairy Conference got under way in Mullingar yesterday with the good news that dairy farmers are getting higher milk prices for the first time this year as world markets improve.
Price increases to more than 23 cents a litre were announced by Kerry, Town of Monaghan, Lakeland and Tipperary co-ops, offering a glimmer of confidence for next year.
However, two main players in the market, Glanbia and Dairygold, remain just below 23 cents.
The Irish Farmers Association national dairy committee chairman, Richard Kennedy, welcomed the increases and urged co-ops that had yet to set their October price to follow the example and make the most of improving markets to invest in their suppliers’ confidence.
He told the conference, attended by 500 farmers, that while milk prices still fell far short of break-even, fully justified price increases in September, October and even in November would help set the scene for improved on-farm profitability in 2010.
As the theme of the event was milk production from grass, a world leader in this area, Louis Kuriger from New Zealand, explained how he got all his feed from grass and bought no animal feed.
Laurence Shalloo from Teagasc advised that dairy farmers should put more emphasis on business planning, grass budgeting, animal breeding and the adoption of low-cost, labour-efficient systems to manage the fluctuating milk prices.