With a sharp rise in incomes on dairy farms, it is easy to operate in the here and now and ignore the challenges that lie ahead. This week, Mike Magan raises a very simple but thought-provoking question:
where do we want the dairy industry to be in 10 years’ time? He also makes the observation that responsibility for setting the 10-year vision for the industry does not lie with the CEOs of the various milk processors, but instead with farmers and their representatives around the co-op board tables. Is there really, as the article identifies, an extra €150 per cow or €210m per annum across the industry to be had from a more integrated approach to processing and marketing?
With a sharp rise in incomes on dairy farms, it is easy to operate in the here and now and ignore the challenges that lie ahead. This week, Mike Magan raises a very simple but thought-provoking question: where do we want the dairy industry to be in 10 years’ time? He also makes the observation that responsibility for setting the 10-year vision for the industry does not lie with the CEOs of the various milk processors, but instead with farmers and their representatives around the co-op board tables.
Is there really, as the article identifies, an extra €150 per cow or €210m per annum across the industry to be had from a more integrated approach to processing and marketing?
Regardless of the precise accuracy of the figure, in the context of the potential prize that lies ahead, surely it is time for an independent farmer-led review of the sector – from farm gate to the retail shelf.
At the very least, co-op chairs have a responsibility to their farmer suppliers to inform the debate with the facts – publishing the findings of existing reports would be a useful first step.
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