The average price recorded on Thursday was 18.03 pence per litre: the comparable figure for September was 25.1 pence.
"This week's events have sent shock waves through the entire dairy farming sector," Union spokesman Joe McDonald told Farming Life.
"We will be calling on the Commissioner to introduce export refunds on a range of dairy products as a matter of priority. We also want to discuss other measures which could aid the milk sector at this time."
Joe McDonald confirmed that the Union is to convene an emergency meeting of its Milk Committee. This will be followed by a series of producer meetings at venues across Northern Ireland over the coming weeks.
"We have also requested meetings with the province's dairy processers to find out how they can improve the current situation," added the Union spokesman.
"Producers are angry at what they regard as the poor performance of the dairies. Little or no milk is being used to manufacture powders and other commodity products at the present time. Instead, it is being directed towards the liquid milk market and the production of value added lines, such as cheese and yoghurt. All of these sectors remain extremely buoyant: so why the cataclysmic drop in milk price now?''
From Page One
Commenting on the outcome of the auction, United Dairy Farmers group chief executive, David Dobbin, told Farming Life that the disappointing result indicates the serious difficulties in dairy markets as local processers start selling milk for the 2009 season and powder plants having to come back on line to handle the milk.
"For some time the industry has been expressing concern about the slump in international dairy markets and the loss of export refunds especially for powder. In recent months United's milk price has been above other local buyers who have been reducing their prices at a time when United's price has increased. Yesterday's auction saw a correction in United's forward price, even though the milk price paid in the October cheque moved up," he added.
"Each month United sells milk on three-month contracts and this auction included milk for delivery to processors in November through to January. Consequently the payments farmers will receive for their October milk supplies will not be affected by today's result, but the prices for November and December supplies will gradually reduce as previous higher priced auctions are left behind.
"Last year we saw a boom in dairy markets driven by a strong world economy, good demand especially from China, tight global milk supply and low powder and cheese stocks. Now we have the exact opposite situation – a weak global economy, a collapse in demand from China following the melamine crisis, a recovery in milk production, especially in New Zealand, and high powder and cheese stocks. Prices in the Fonterra monthly auction of wholemilk powder have fallen by 35 per cent since the auction was introduced in July; European butter prices are at a 10-year low, and now bulk cheese prices are now also falling. In the USA skimmed milk powder has been sold to the Government support programme for the first time since 2006."
David Dobbin said: "International markets are falling and buyers are reluctant to buy powder and cheese until prices bottom out. With such negative sentiment, the reality is that there is currently little or no real demand outside consumer markets. The dairy industry in Ireland, which is more dependent on export sales than almost any other region of the EU, is at the sharp end of the current slump. Make no mistake local processors are hurting every bit as much as farmers with no one making a living in the current markets.''
Agriculture and Rural Development Minister, Michelle Gildernew MP, MLA, has voiced concern at the sharp drop in milk prices at this week's auction.
"This is a very worrying development and I know that dairy farmers will be extremely anxious, particularly given current high input costs," she said.
Speaking yesterday with the Department for the Environment Farming and Rural Affairs Minister, Hilary Benn, on the CAP Health Check, the Minister highlighted this worrying development.
"I took the opportunity to ask the Minister to support the reintroduction of export refunds for dairy products, particularly given the dependence of our local dairy sector on dairy commodities. Clearly, we need to try and help the industry through what has now become a very difficult market and we must do everything that we can to persuade the EU Commission to use all instruments at its disposal," Michelle Gildernew said.
Farmers for Action's Northern Ireland co-ordinator, William Taylor, claims the results of this week's auction will have disastrous consequences for every dairy farmer in the Province.
"The Auction may reflect the credit crunch and a failing milk powder market worldwide but this time sympathy is not going to keep Northern Ireland dairy farmers in business," he told Farming Life
"The fact that Great Britain is over 10 per cent short of milk and importing milk from Northern Ireland should have brought about a buoyant auction price. But since this didn't happen thre fundamental question must now be asked: what has gone wrong?."
Speaking from Strasbourg, MEP Jim Nicholson, said this week's drop in the price of milk is a total disaster.
He added: "Many dairy farmers will not survive this. With the cost of production at 23-24 pence how are they expected to survive?
"The main problem is that this announcement is a response to a drop in world market price. I have requested a meeting with Agriculturer Commissioner, Mariann Fischer Boel, to discuss the situation, especially in the area of export restitution refunds.."
Jim Allister MEP has expressed deep disappointment at the crash in auction prices.
"Last week, I met with representatives of the Northern Ireland dairy industry, who shared with me their concerns for the short to medium term, if the dire World market situation for milk and milk products fails to improve. Today's auction represents something of a confirmation of the industry's fears, while clearly, milk production is not sustainable at these levels," he told Farming Life.
"The current crisis in the sector makes the re-introduction of export refunds all the more urgent in the short term. I have alerted Commissioner Fischer-Boel's office to today's auction results, and the impact this will have on the industry in Northern Ireland. I hope to be in a position to meet with the Commissioner on this issue in the coming days.''
Assembly Agriculture Committee vice chairman Tom Elliott, has said there is a real need for the re-introduction of Dairy Export Refunds following a rapid decline in the price of milk.
"The fall in milk prices has been extremely worrying," he told Farming Life.
"The decline is not only aggravating given the hard work that many dairy farmers put in 'day and daily' across Northern Ireland to deliver a quality product, but has also meant that many of the households that relay on the dairy trade for their livelihoods are really suffering at a time when we are on the brink of a recession."
For Mr Elliott, the auction results have added weight to the call for the return of the Dairy Export Refunds.
"I am a strong supporter of the call for the re-introduction for the Dairy Export Refunds," he said."
Assembly Agriculture Committee member, William Irwin, has called for a concerted effort across both the Government and the dairy industry to have export refunds reinstated in the wake of this week's auction results.
"This is by far the worst auction result in real terms that I can recall in recent times," he told Farming Life.
"What will really financially affect farmers is the fact that not only is the price down 30 per cent but input costs have risen by at least 3p per litre. There must be a concerted effort across the board to reinstate export refunds, 18.2p per litre is simply not viable and farmers will not be able to cover their production costs.''
SDLP agriculture spokesperson, P J Bradley MLA, has expressed his concern about plummeting milk prices and has urged Minister Michelle Gildernew to take urgent action.
"Only the urgent reintroduction of export refunds on dairy products will save the Northern Ireland milk industry,'' he said.
"Let's look at just one sector of the industry. For the sake of the environment Europe insisted that slurry must be retained during the mid winter period thus additional tanks were built on the majority of our dairy farms and to build these 40% of the outlay had, in most cases ,to be borrowed from the banks," he explained.
"The borrowing was based on the ability to pay from the monthly milk cheque but one does not have to be an economist or an accountant to know that following the payment of feed, energy and winter maintenance of the herd there will be no surplus cash within the cheque to pay for anything else."