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will maxwell Profile
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Ex96

Registered: 06-2003
Location: Augher
Posts: 960
Karma: 11 (+11/-0)
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Re: Milk price


Only just got looking at it in detail, I see the 'members price adjustment' for July '12 to March '13 of 0.1ppl, welcome indeed, but just washes the face of our transport charges this month!!

Not sure DownCows, did I mention the 13th payment United are due to pay after September this year to those members who stay after their notice period?? emoticon The 'detractors' might say that they are dangling a carrot to encourage those under notice NOT to leave, I wonder what percentage of the current membership are currently working under notice?

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Please Sir, I want some more, cos as we all know 'every little helps'!
19/7/2013, 23:10 Link to this post PM via Email   PM via Forum
 
FiringOnAllFour Profile
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Ex97
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Registered: 01-2004
Location: Northern Ireland
Posts: 2203
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Re: Milk price


I don't know the percentage. I can only speculate that it may not be as significant as you think Will. Dozens of members in my area and I am only aware of one who has any interest in moving. It is mostly the other suppliers that are doing the moving around.
20/7/2013, 0:05 Link to this post PM via Email   PM via Forum
 
will maxwell Profile
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Ex96

Registered: 06-2003
Location: Augher
Posts: 960
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Re: Milk price


I'm starting to wonder if it makes a difference as to which side of the Bann you are on FOAF? In the Wild West there has always been the feeling that United could do a U2 on us (With or without you!)

You're clearly in a strong catchment area for United/Dale Farm, therefore probably feel more secure and perhaps better looked after? (I'm surmising!) There are certainly quite a few United members who have left them in our area and quite a number more who have their notice in, it would be interesting to see (if they would ever tell the 'shareholder members') what the percentage is and how it breaks down geographically.

I concede that the vast majority of Fane Valley's producers are ex TMC, Lakeland, Donegal, perhaps Glanbia and some United.

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Please Sir, I want some more, cos as we all know 'every little helps'!
20/7/2013, 22:37 Link to this post PM via Email   PM via Forum
 
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Ex97
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Registered: 01-2004
Location: Northern Ireland
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Re: Milk price


I don't doubt that there may be differences in member sentiment from area to area. I know that west and south have been target areas for those buyers looking to poach northern suppliers, and this has been done very successfully over a number of years. I think all this adds to the sense you may have that you don't wish to be the one to have to turn the lights out and lock up at United. There has never been a call from another buyer looking for our milk, and I m sure most around me are the same. So that sense just doesn't appear to be common here. I would say that there is a strong underlying belief that united will come through in time. Admittedly, the ballyrashane episode was a blow, and those who remained members in that area have shown tremendous strength of character.

The shoe on the other foot. If you were on the board, do you think it would be good strategy to put the number of notices into tthe public domain? How many notices are in for the others? You maybe could start thinking more along those lines because united is your company and you could stand for election onto the council next time round, then the board after that! It's not 'them v us' - they are just the same as us, guys with cows to milk and farms to run.

One of things I find most pleasing is to see the array of dale farm products available to buy, not only in our local supermarkets, but in GB, and how it is nearly impossible now to keep track of the ever expanding range. Great to hear of another gain to be added to the list of contracts - to supply lidl cheddar throughout the whole of Europe! I can just hear the German, Italian and French processors... In fact, I almost feel sorry for arla/campina/Danone - they won't have seen us creep up on them until its too late!

 emoticon

Last edited by FiringOnAllFour, 21/7/2013, 11:06
20/7/2013, 23:48 Link to this post PM via Email   PM via Forum
 
DownCows Profile
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GP83

Registered: 01-2013
Posts: 31
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Re: Milk price


I looked up the United Annual Reports and ...

2008-2009: 980 million litres supplied (approx)
2009-2010: 893 million litres. We can see the average member supplied 478,000 litres and there were 1869 members.
2010-2011: 979 million litres. United paid bonus shares of 979,000 (1 share per 1000 litres of milk).
2011-2012: 1,001 million litres. It was 1,001,000 bonus shares.

Obviously we don't know what happened last year 2012-13, but as soon as the annual report comes out soon we will get an idea. Fortunately, it's not as bad as some would like to make out. The United milk pool has in fact been fairly stable over the last 4 years.

That's not to say members haven't left, they clearly have as can be seen by the number of shares paid back in cash to those who stayed the notice period. But it can only mean that a combination of new suppliers to United and those with United increasing their production have kept things stable.

Seems to me that the primary reason larger producers left United in 2012/13 did so because they were either part of the Ballyrashane Co-op, or they were offered an individual price from another processor whereas United have one price for everyone - with a production bonus/rebate of 0.1p per million litres. I don't think United treat any members differently - which is kind of the principle of a co-op.

It is all well and good for those who left, but they may want to keep half an eye on 2015 which is not all that far away.

Last edited by DownCows, 21/7/2013, 10:56
21/7/2013, 0:22 Link to this post PM via Email   PM via Forum
 
FiringOnAllFour Profile
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Ex97
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Registered: 01-2004
Location: Northern Ireland
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Re: Milk price


I think you would be right there - the period you show before the 'parting of ways', to put it nicely, was very settled, with record low departures, the majority of which were retirements.

In the North Antrim case, it should be noted that considerable leverage was applied to lure members, with both carrot and stick. The whole thing opens up a new era in milk supply here. It strikes me that the negotiation of individual prices for fixed term is really very akin to how products are sold off the shelf. Introductory offers are used to lure customers over to a competing product. This has led to a culture now of shopping on special offers, with a willingness to follow the tastier carrot each time. It wouldn't take too big a stretch of the imagination to see how this could pan out on the supply side as 'special offers' expire. Producers chopping and changing, creating fluctuations in company supplies, could cause some financial hardship for some companies as they fall out of favour when they can no longer continue to dole out the sweeties, and start to lose throughput at the factory. Add to this the 2015 scenario when the desire to ply northern producers with the sweeties may wane somewhat, and you end up with a lot of unsettled farmers...
21/7/2013, 11:51 Link to this post PM via Email   PM via Forum
 
will maxwell Profile
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Ex96

Registered: 06-2003
Location: Augher
Posts: 960
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Re: Milk price


So the past week has seen a fair bit happening. Rumors around the Clogher Valley are that Greenfields Dairies from Donegal have bought the former Cheese processing plant in Augher (our local co-op) Fact is they have been touting for business in the area, offering an inducement of 1ppl for all milk produced in the previous year! They want a lift in the Clogher Valley.

Dale Farm (United's processing arm) have announce 'early' their fantastic results, just a day or two prior to announcing a series of local area meetings for members to attend.

Then Saturday's FL splash headline is all about United and their proposal to offer producer members a 'fixed' price for 20% of their annual production.

A Cynic might think that United were clutching at straws!! emoticon

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Please Sir, I want some more, cos as we all know 'every little helps'!
1/9/2013, 21:14 Link to this post PM via Email   PM via Forum
 
will maxwell Profile
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Ex96

Registered: 06-2003
Location: Augher
Posts: 960
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Re: Milk price


OOPS! Posted twice!! emoticon

Last edited by will maxwell, 1/9/2013, 21:16


---
Please Sir, I want some more, cos as we all know 'every little helps'!
1/9/2013, 21:15 Link to this post PM via Email   PM via Forum
 
FiringOnAllFour Profile
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Ex97
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Registered: 01-2004
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Re: Milk price


I was at our local meeting on thursday night. I didn't see the headline as I'm very bad at picking up the saturday paper, but I do know the context of the proposal. It really stems from the broad-minded approach that the board seem willing to take to the new pricing era that we have, post-auction. This sort of thing happens on the mainland, and the view seems to be that it could be an option to United members going forward because a fair bit of their product is sold on contract. Therefore, you could choose to fix a portion of your supply at a price for six months that is related to United contracts for a basket of products over that period. We were told by a director that the proposal is in its infancy, that he himself had not formed any particular view on it yet, but that they were throwing it out to the membership to see if there would be any appetite for it. Of course it would be on an 'opt in' basis only. No one would be forced to fix a price. Its not such a radical idea really. We fix meal forward. Even when we buy a load of fertiliser we are unintentionally hedging the price, assuming that we don't get the 28ton spread the week it arrives - if some of it sits a month, it was bought a price 'x' and the spot price could have moved; or indeed intentionally buying a load in anticipation of a rising market. We can hedge inputs - hedging our output seems like a reasonable suggestion. Hedging is a gamble. But so is paying or taking spot price for everything.




Last edited by FiringOnAllFour, 2/9/2013, 10:25
2/9/2013, 10:20 Link to this post PM via Email   PM via Forum
 
holsteins Profile
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EX95

Registered: 11-2012
Posts: 530
Karma: 3 (+4/-1)
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Re: Milk price


Milk down south has reached record levels now.
 Glanbia are paying 40 cent/litre vat inclusive.
Long may it last...
20/9/2013, 17:52 Link to this post PM via Email   PM via Forum
 


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