The Irish Farmers’ Association (IFA) has welcomed the completion of the Lakeland Dairies, LacPatrick Dairies merger.
IFA President Joe Healy said the merger was vital for dairy farmers in the North East of the entire island of Ireland.
He added that it must ‘be bedded down’ as soon as possible to start delivering for farmers there.
“The merged entity must position itself in the best possible way to optimise dairy processing and marketing and to pay a strong price to farmers,” Healy said.
“This is particularly critical in the context of Brexit, as both constituent co-ops have farmer members and processing facilities both sides of the border.”
Defending Farmers
IFA National Dairy Chairman, Tom Phelan, agreed that dairy farmers needed a strong co-op to defend their interests.
“I wish the newly merged co-op the very best: dairy farmers in the North East need a strong co-op to defend their business interests, especially with a potentially problematic Brexit only days away,” Phelan said.
“Dairy farmers in the region need to know that the co-operative business they charge with collecting, processing, adding value and marketing their milk will be optimally efficient.
“This merger must reward the confidence shown by shareholders in both LacPatrick and Lakeland, by delivering added value and stronger milk prices.”
© 2019 Checkout – your source for the latest Irish retail news. Article by Aidan O’Sullivan. Click sign-up to subscribe to Checkout.
