UK Farmers’ Union Rallying Call for Dairy Industry to Deal with Market Volatility

06 Apr 2017 --- The head of the UK’s National Farmers Union is urging the industry to step up ways to manage the “volatility” that he believes is becoming the norm in the sector.

NFU present Meurig Raymond, who is also a dairy farmer with 620 cows in Wales, made the comments during the opening of the union’s Dairy Risk Management Conference. The “Considering Futures” event attracted more than one hundred stakeholders from across the dairy supply chain including farmers, processors and manufacturers as well as representatives from retailers, banks and Government

Speaking to delegates today, Raymond said by utilizing every possible tool, dairy farmers could explore potential benefits to help recover from the latest market downturn - average farmgate milk prices fell from 34.55ppl in November 2013 to 19.89ppl in June 2016.

“I am all too aware of the difficulties the dairy sector has faced as a result of low farmgate prices over the past few years”, he said. “This needs to be addressed quickly to develop more resilient, forward looking supply chains.”

“We want to see increased use and uptake of innovative, new tools that help balance the price risk between farmer, processor and end user – and dairy futures could be one answer.”

“In the US they are playing a part in aiding price recovery and collaborative working across the supply chain and I believe futures provide an opportunity for both the UK and more broadly for Europe.”

Explaining more about the concept of dairy futures, he added: “A processor and manufacturer are afforded the capability to hedge their market risk, locking in a longer term price for a commodity, be it skimmed milk powder, butter or cheese. The farmer may also in turn be presented with the opportunity to lock in over longer periods a proportion of their milk at a price agreed with the processor. This provides greater stability, certainty and in turn promotes confidence – allowing dairy farmers to invest in their businesses in the future.”

“Futures also provide greater transparency around market expectations over the medium term. This enables the supply chain to plan ahead, manage production and ultimately mitigate the risk presented by the peaks and troughs of supply. Transparency with it carries many benefits, it aides price discovery allowing different marketing arrangements to develop such as market linked formula pricing and forward contracts.”

“But we also are aware of the challenges. Dairy futures require reliable market price indices to settle against. Here the NFU has called on Government to regulate on mandatory price reporting to improve market transparency and provide a reliable reference price.”

“Dairy Futures are a new concept. As such we have much work to do in developing our knowledge and capacity as an industry to understand how to best utilize this vital tool.”

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