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The Irish Farmers Journal understands that the bonus is worth 1c/l and unconditional.
The four co-ops forming the Carbery group – Lisavaird, Drinagh, Bandon and Barryroe – are expected to pass the bonus on to their suppliers.
While this type of annual bonus is normally announced the following spring, Carbery’s board made the decision to bring it forward this year at its last meeting.
This means the announcement comes before Carbery’s chief executive Dan McSweeney retires at the end of this month.
All co-ops should ‘follow suit’
“The 1c/l 2017 bonus by Carbery must lead all co-ops to examine their ability to follow suit,” said IFA dairy chair Sean O’Leary. “All co-ops should now be in a comfortable position to commit to holding their current milk prices at least until spring, and to pay an end-of-year bonus on all supplies.”
According to an IFA calculation, the average price paid by co-ops between July 2016 and October 2017, as reported in the Irish Farmers Journal milk league, was 2c/l below the returns from the EU market.
Additional reporting by Jack Kennedy.
Dairygold, Carbery, Kerry and Arrabawn set November milk prices
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