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While there is no immediate rush for Kerry milk suppliers to hear the final plan for the future, they need to hear something soon or else negativity and alternative plans will take hold.
This week, we heard speculation that farmers were going to have to foot €180m on the new deal, with a number of different funding options. We also heard from co-op board members who said that nothing has been signed off.
So, when you cut a long story short, knowing one part of the 10-part jigsaw really doesn't make any sense.
Farmers need to know the various bits of the jigsaw to be able to interpret the deal - knowing the cost without the profit forecast or the long-term investment plan makes us none the wiser.
Listen to the podcast below for an update on where things stand at the moment.
Milk prices
Milk prices look set to rise for February, as milk price indicators across the world point upwards. The Ornua PPI lifted this week and the GDT index lifted 15% - the eight consecutive lift, which has seen a 35% rise in total since mid November. As a result, Fonterra lifted milk price forecast by 1.5c/l on Thursday.
Over the next 10 days, Irish board directors will be meeting to set milk price and all they will see are arrows pointing upwards from EU and global dairy commodity price indicators.
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