Milk Price- Please read Mod note in post #1

Buford T. Justice V wrote: »

Kerry hold June price, from Journal WhatsApp message

what is it at?

Whoop di do.

Lakelands held at 23c

Off season premiums were there 40 years ago to limit the peak to trough and maximise plant use. Its a choice that has been made to largely move away from that.

blackdog1 wrote: »

Lads the bigger problem is who would you move to even if you could??? Unfortunately the west cork coops don't come out to my area and never will so it's a choice between kerry and glanbia. Better the Devil you know I say. I'd also lose my winter milk bonus if I switched. People also have to know we have increased the cost to process milk in this country because everyone is gone spring production so we need huge capacity for 4-6 months of the year and feck all for the rest.

blackdog1 wrote: »

I remember at a meeting with Jim Wolfe and a farmer stood up and said he was one of the few winter milk producers left and Wolfe said he'd like a few more because plant isn't maximised. But teagasc has everyone in spring milk so you lie in the bed you make. I'm the one who should be complaining. If everyone was 50/50 winter and spring our processing cost would be lower and we would have an even supply of product to sell each month not these ups and downs. Problem is they're is alot more work in winter milk so I understand completely why people got out of it.I often question my sanity

Co-op no longer pay a bonus to new winter milk suppliers so they are not encouraging farmers to supply milk during this period. Along with more work winter milk is also more expensive to produce for the supplier. No point saving a fraction of a cent in production costs and spending multiples of that producing milk during the winter. All milk plants need to be taken out of production for essential maintenance during the year and this is targets during the winter period.

The other issue with production costs is the multiple drying/processing units in the country. There has been little cooperation between co-op in organizing efficient processing with most co-op management wanting trophy units in there area. What makes it funny is the word co-op stands for cooperative as in corporation. The biggest issue's to effect milk price are bad planning in only producing generic singular products milk powder, butter etc. and PLC's wanting milk at lowest world prices during a downturn without reflecting the high peak prices during an upturn.

blackdog1 wrote: »

I remember at a meeting with Jim Wolfe and a farmer stood up and said he was one of the few winter milk producers left and Wolfe said he'd like a few more because plant isn't maximised. But teagasc has everyone in spring milk so you lie in the bed you make. I'm the one who should be complaining. If everyone was 50/50 winter and spring our processing cost would be lower and we would have an even supply of product to sell each month not these ups and downs. Problem is they're is alot more work in winter milk so I understand completely why people got out of it.I often question my sanity

We are already chasing the lowest end of the market by dumping powder milk on the world market, and you want us all to throw away the one small advantage we have in seasonal grass production and all up our costs and our workload, just so as we can gain the likes of 1c/l at a processing level?? I don't buy the even supply to sell either, not in the world market context, we are producing peak powdered milk when the likes of NZ are at a minimum.

I would have thought you as a winter milk supplier should be complaining about any manufacturing suppliers who do milk through the winter instead, they are the ones who will allow the processors keep squeezing us actual liquid milk suppliers, why would a processor bother paying a liquid premium if they can get spring lads to produce it for no premium ha.

Timmaay wrote: »

We are already chasing the lowest end of the market by dumping powder milk on the world market, and you want us all to throw away the one small advantage we have in seasonal grass production and all up our costs and our workload, just so as we can gain the likes of 1c/l at a processing level?? I don't buy the even supply to sell either, not in the world market context, we are producing peak powdered milk when the likes of NZ are at a minimum.

I would have thought you as a winter milk supplier should be complaining about any manufacturing suppliers who do milk through the winter instead, they are the ones who will allow the processors keep squeezing us actual liquid milk suppliers, why would a processor bother paying a liquid premium if they can get spring lads to produce it for no premium ha.

What costs have the spring guys got that are milking on? Surely they are basically the same as the liquid guys. Also would they have problems with lactose?

Timmaay wrote: »

I use the spring milker term losely actually, the pure early Feb compact calving spring milker would never dream of milking on past mid Dec, them 6wks of effort would probably only amount to 2 or 3 collections at peak! However the likes of me, who has been 90% spring the last few years, but due to a poor calving spread and too many autumn calvers I've over supplied my winter contract, and end up only getting manufacturing price for the likes of 1/2 my Dec and Jan milk. I'll hopefully finally cure that this winter, with no autumn calvers.

My dad was down your way a few weeks ago at a funeral, he was amazed at the amount of farmers that are gone spring only, lads that would have been in lmp/fmp with him. How do these lads fare for cash flow. Calf sales in the autumn are a great help here. I couldnt see myself going all spring unless I could source good labour for the spring time

Timmaay wrote:

We are already chasing the lowest end of the market by dumping powder milk on the world market, and you want us all to throw away the one small advantage we have in seasonal grass production and all up our costs and our workload, just so as we can gain the likes of 1c/l at a processing level?? I don't buy the even supply to sell either, not in the world market context, we are producing peak powdered milk when the likes of NZ are at a minimum.

Think we're losing another 2-3 c trying to sell a mountain of product in 2-4 months instead of over a gradual time. European production also peaks in may June. Never mind NZ.

jaymla627 wrote: »

Milk through late calvers here, once you have good quality baled silage and feed 3-4 kgs of a good 18% nut lactose is a non - issue never dropped below 4.6% here last winter.....
From Nov to the end of Jan last year would of averaged 17 litres a day, estimated feed costs would be around 1.60 a day on top of normal dry cow diet and parlour running costs plus electric and lime would be 30 cent a cow.....
Was clearing nearly 2 euro a cow a day last year, mighten stack up this year with milk price where it's at, but i find here that without fail ill always have 2-3 perfectly good cows calve in early Jan through slipped calves our simpley a month early so might aswell be running through 40-50 cows as opposed to 2-3 and dumping their milk, only takes a hour and half total each day for milking so don't see it as that big a deal, plus I'm getting a full lactation out of any late calvers I have

Do you have any liquid quota? Last winter I supplied just enough in December and January to fill mine, very little milk at manufacturing price. Makes a big difference to ppl