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Historic meeting of Limerick dairy farmers in Adare

Donal O'Regan, 7 Jul

A HISTORIC meeting of dairy farmers was held in Adare last Thursday,

June 27, as close to 200 farmers attended the first public meeting of

the newly established producer organisation of dairy farmers - Munster

Dairy Producer Organisation (MDPO).

This was the first public meeting of a producer organisation in

Ireland.

Coincidentally, some 135 years ago, a corresponding historic event was

held 40km south off Adare in Dromcollogher in 1889 with the

establishment of the first co-operative creamery in Ireland.

There was a positive reaction from the floor in the Woodlands to

speakers and a willingness of farmers to join the producer organisation

so as to collectively negotiate new milk supply contracts.

The producer organisation concept is governed by EU law and was “born

out of the need to bring in robust arrangements, backed up with EU law,

to strengthen the position of farmers to negotiate with milk and other

farm products purchasers and food retailers”.

In his address to fellow farmers, James Doyle, MDPO chairperson said

that the establishment of the producer organisation was “born out of

frustration, desperation and lack of representation in dealing with

milk purchasers down through the years”.

“We were given supply contracts ‘on a take it or leave it basis’ with

no negotiation. Current suppliers to Kerry Agribusiness are under

formal notice that their current contracts will end at the end of

March 2026. In the absence of a producer organisation, we farmers are

left without any body to negotiate new contracts lawfully and

collectively on our behalf to take effect in just 22 months from now.

“The principal advantage of an approved producer organisation is that

its members are given a licence to negotiate legally binding supply

contracts, including in particular price, with a purchaser of farm

output, which at present in Ireland is mainly milk and cattle for

slaughter,” said Mr Doyle.

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MDPO is now fully established and has commenced signing-up dairy

farmers, mainly those who are currently supplying milk to Kerry

Agribusiness. The establishment and running of a producer organisation

is governed by EU and Irish legislation and certain formalities have to

be followed to get a PO approved by the Department of Agriculture.

These formalities and rules have now been met in full by MDPO. It was

formally approved by the Minister for Agriculture last April. This work

was undertaken by Ciaran Dolan, a practising barrister and agribusiness

consultant.

The producer organisation enjoys what is known as “block exemption”

from competition law. The EU rules on competition are strict to the

extent that they prevent even a small number of farmers coming together

to negotiate price with a milk processor.

The core purpose of MDPO is to collectively negotiate the best milk

price and supply terms for farmers and MDPO is open for discussions and

contract negotiations with any milk purchaser, they say.

The formal recognition of the MDPO represents a watershed in the Irish

dairy industry. No longer are dairy farmers on their own where milk

purchasers can offer milk supply contracts to individual farmers

without any real negotiations and on ‘a take it or leave it’ basis, say

the MDPO.

Dairy farmers, who are not supplying a co-op, can now collectively

negotiate with any milk purchaser of their choice and agree lawfully

enforceable milk supply contracts with the full backing of EU law.

MDPO by getting formal approval will now provide an important

negotiating platform for dairy farmers in the Munster region, said Mr

Doyle.

“We will collectively endeavour to put that into practice to secure the

best possible milk price and supply terms for dairy farmers,” said Mr

Doyle.

Current milk suppliers to Kerry Agribusiness and other dairy farmers

were invited to attend a series of three public meetings in Limerick,

Kerry and Clare, arranged to provide farmers with full information on

the role and plans of MDPO, and to provide an opportunity for farmers

to sign up as members.