18 Oct 2018
FFA issues warning on long-term fixed price contracts
Farmers for Action (FFA) Northern Ireland co-ordinator William Taylor has warned farmers against signing up to long term fixed price contracts.
Alex Black
Farmer for Action (FFA) in Northern Ireland has warned farmers against signing fixed term contracts, following offers from co-operatives.
William Taylor, FFA NI co-ordinator, said the co-operatives had been offering fixed term contracts for a number of years ‘quite forcibly in some cases’.
He highlighted the ‘true costs of production’ saying the European Milk Board in Germany, Holland, Italy and others was reporting it at over 40ppl.
Mr Taylor urged farmers to at least get professional legal advice if they were considering contracts at about 27ppl.
Legal advice
“Bear in mind, if your co-op was signing a contract with a large supermarket their legal team would be involved,” he said.
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“The final option for now is to sign nothing and advise your co-op that if they are not paying you a price equivalent to the top two highest co-ops or other large milk purchasers in Northern Ireland consistently, then you will no longer be with them.”
He added farmers who had signed in 2016 to deliver a percentage of their milk at over 20ppl to be delivered for 18 months were now very unhappy and called for legislation on farmgate prices to ensure a minimum of the cost of production plus a margin, linked to inflation.
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