The Irish Farmers Association (IFA) has accused food company Glanbia of trying to 'soften up' farmers ahead of further milk price cuts.
The IFA said that recent meetings held by Glanbia in conjunction with Teagasc and the Irish Cattle Breeding Federation (ICBF), were being used to prepare farmers for more cuts.
"In the last 12 months, milk producers have been hit with price cuts of between 10 and 14 cents a litre, an income loss of between €25,000 and €32,000 over a full year's supply – and this is before production cost increases are factored in" said IFA national dairy committee chairman Richard Kennedy.
"It is clear that with production costs in excess of 23 cents a litre, even the most efficient suppliers simply cannot afford further milk price cuts," he added.
The IFA called on board members at Glanbia, which is the largest milk processor in the State, to demand pay cuts, rather than continuing reduce the prices it pays to farmers for milk supplies.
"Farmers have taken a significant level of pain in the last 12 months. It is high time that pain was shared, and board members in Glanbia and all other co-ops, whose dairy farming income Teagasc expects will fall by 30 per cent in 2009, should understand this better than anyone. They must get stuck in and demand a root and branch, ruthless hunt for cost at every level of their society," said Mr Kennedy.
Geraldine Kearney, a spokeswoman for Glanbia, said the company reviewed its milk prices on a monthly basis and as of last year was paying the highest prices in Europe.
