Steady as she goes for NI dairy sector

He explained: “China is very active on international markets at the present time. From a milk supply perspective, output has faltered in the EU over recent months while New Zealand and Australia have recently been impacted by drought conditions.

“These factors are combining to deliver relatively stable conditions on dairy markets around the world at the present time.”

Looking back on 2020, the Dairy Council representative confirmed that dairy markets took a significant downturn in the weeks following the introduction of the initial Covid-19 lockdown.

Johnston added:“Thankfully markets recovered later in the year. Farmers trying to looking forward 12 months ago would have found it difficult to predict the relatively encouraging drivers that characterise world dairy markets at the present time.

“This is all very positive, as has been the resilience shown by local milk producers and the entire dairy processing chain since the outbreak of the pandemic.”

Looking forward, Mike Johnston is taking nothing for granted.

He explained: “What happens if China takes a further hit from Covid? Such a development could have a very negative impact on dairy markets.

“From a production point of view, there is a strong prospect of rains breaking the drought in Australasia. Recent months have also seen US milk suppliers upping their production levels on the back of government support packages.

“The likelihood is that we will see this additional product being offloaded on to markets in the not too distant future. So it would be foolish to take the current stable market conditions for granted moving forward.”

Turning to matters closer to home, The Dairy Council representative confirmed that milk produced in Northern Ireland continues to ‘flow’ cross border for processing.

He said: “The issue concerning dairy products of mixed Irish origin being accepted for EU exports to Third World countries has yet to be resolved.

“This is a matter that impacts on the Irish dairy industry, north and south. It is an issue that must be resolved quickly.

“With this in mind, I was extremely encouraged by the public stance taken on the matter by Ireland’s Minister for Foreign Affairs Simon Coveney earlier this week.”

Mike Johnston added that he did not want to countenance an unsatisfactory conclusion to this important matter.

He commented: “The significance of this issue for the Irish dairy industry is now well recognised. What’s more, there is strong support from many quarters to have it resolved in a way that best meets the needs of the milk sector as a whole.”

The Dairy Council has received significant levels of support from the EU over the past number of years. A case in point was the organisation’s three–year involvement with the EU Sustainable Dairy programme, in partnership with the European Milk Forum. This work included the publication by the Dairy Council of three EU Sustainable Dairy Fact books.

Mike Johnston commented: “Looking to the future the Council has recently received the green light from Brussels to initiate a further three-year project, again looking at the issue of sustainability within the milk industry.

“I can also confirm that the Dairy Council is to receive a €130,000 Covid-related, market disturbance grant. The decision has already been taken to target this money at the local food service sector over the next 12 months with the aim of encouraging businesses within that industry to use more home produced dairy products.”

Mike Johnston concluded: “Local dairy processors have benefitted greatly from specific EU funded export programmes, which allowed them to target markets in the Middle East and South East Asia.

“In light of the Covid- 19 pandemic the Dairy Council withdrew from this initiative on an agreed force majeure basis. However, we intend pushing ahead with the programme once again over the coming months and use the available funds to help our processors as export markets start to recover.”