Farmers can expect to receive 30c/l for their milk price next spring, according to the chief executive of Ornua.
Speaking exclusively to the Irish Farmers Journal at an RDS economics lecture on Tuesday night, Kevin Lane said there are continued improvements in the global dairy markets.
“We are heading hopefully to that 30c/l price, whether it be the first quarter or second quarter of next year – ideally the first quarter, provided market returns can sustain it,” he said.
Lane also said that volumes exported by Ornua grew by 28% this year, reaching 60% of all Irish dairy exports.
“We’ve had fairly significant growth through processors putting extra product through us, in particular cheese, butter and spreads,” said Lane.
“We’ve built new routes to market, we’ve built new infrastructure, we’re driving our brands harder and we’re acquiring companies that do further processing.”
Listen to a discussion of Ornua’s performance and milk price expectations between Kevin Lane and Irish Farmers Journal editor Justin McCarthy in our podcast below:
Listen to “Ornua's chief executive Kevin Lane” on Spreaker.
Earlier this week, the Global Dairy Trade (GDT) auction in New Zealand increased 4.5% on the back of an 11% increase two weeks ago.
However, the volumes offered in Tuesday’s auction were low at just 23,902t.
On the home front, the majority of co-ops have now set a milk price for October.
Lakeland increase by 1c/l to 25.6c/litre, Glanbia went up 2c/l to 26.7c/l (including a 1c/l co-op support), Carbery went up 1.5c/l, while Kerry went up 2c/l to 26.7c/l. Prices reported are ex-VAT.
Dairy trends: GDT hits two-year high as product volumes tighten