The IFA ended its protests at Portlaoise and Clonroche Glanbia mills last Friday, having agreed a deal with Glanbia that included grain price increases. The price of feed barley increases by €3 to €144/t. The price of feed wheat goes up by €5 to €153/t and the price of contracted Cassia winter barley also rises by €3.

The base price remains unchanged, with the extra payment based on input purchase, but separate to the existing patronage scheme for co-op members.

Grain suppliers who are not co-op members do not receive all these payments, but will avail of the €2/t differential paid on wheat, reflective of recent markets. They also get a €1/t top-up, linked to input purchase. It is understood that less than 20 grain suppliers are non-co-op members.

Deadline

In addition, Glanbia has extended its deadline for the “Farmers Own Stock” scheme, where growers retain ownership of delivered grain, until next Friday, 18 October. This allows growers to gain from any market price increases up until the end of the year. No interest is being charged on input bills for growers who avail of this option. There is a storage charge of 30c/t per week. Forward grain contracts are offered regularly to growers, and a market-based review mechanism will be investigated.

Glanbia has also committed to ensure maximum inclusion rates of Irish grain in their products. It has pledged €500,000 over three years “to work towards creating more opportunities” for growers, and aims to deliver world-class research and development capabilities.