On the face of it, the release last week of Glanbia’s reserve pool allocations should have been a good news day for the embattled processor.

The amount of extra milk processing capacity it had to distribute to suppliers was much higher than first expected.

As farmers will know only too well, good days for Glanbia are few and far between.

Yet, it somehow managed to turn a positive story into a negative story by miscommunicating the message and riling farmers in the process.

Positive PR

This carry-on may be acceptable in the corporate world where many of the senior management reside but why try and dupe farmers with positive PR that then can’t be backed up with facts?

The leadership needs to remember that they work for a company which is at least 72% owned by farmers, through Glanbia Co-op and through the co-op’s shareholding in the plc.

Some straight-talking wouldn’t go amiss. At times like this, it’s easy to see why farmer trust is low.