Cavan & Monaghan Co-ops on Right Road

Lakelands Co-op and Town of Monaghan Co-op came in for high praise by Independent MEP Marian Harkin when she spoke at the Taste of Cavan Dairy Conference in the Equestrian Centre, Cavan on Saturday, August 18th.

As the closing speaker, summarising papers given by contributors from Brazil, England and Wales, the Independent MEP stressed that the key words involved for all in the dairy industry were good management.

“This ranges from the management of grass to obtain maximum productivity at farm level to  developing markets by creating and maintaining a quality image for Irish dairy products throughout the world.

“Maintaining a quality and efficiency ethos at local level translates into global success and this, for instance, is reflected in the achievement of a quality image and market premium for Kerrygold products in world markets”, she said.

She instanced the current campaign by Kerrygold in the UK market utilising an imaginative advertising campaign based on the small farm structure of Irish dairy farming which emphasises the advantages of outdoor grass feeding over indoor.

At processing industry level Marian Harkin praised the cross border mergers and joint ventures involving the co-ops of the North East and she emphasised the need for a focus on maximising the opportunity to contribute to farm income through achieving benefits of scale at processing level.  “While acknowledging that there are difficulties and barriers to joint ventures, nevertheless, in a post quota era, if Ireland is to compete on a global stage, it means industry re-structuring - no ifs, buts or maybes”, the Independent MEP said.

It was vital for Ireland to retain the quality image of Ireland’s dairy products and this would best be done by retaining focus on their origin on the family farms of Ireland, Independent MEP Marian Harkin concluded.