October 2013 Newsletter

Milk Price

The milk price for the month of September is the same as last month- 39.40 cents per litre (179.12 cents per gallon) at 3.60% butterfat and 3.30% protein, including a bonus of 0.50 cents per litre for a Somatic Cell Count of less than 200,000 and including V.A.T. @ 4.8%.

Milk Supply

The milk supply for the month of September was 13,281,883 litres (2,921,616 gallons) with an average butterfat of 4.16 % and an average protein of 3.67 %. This represents an increase of 2,360,875 litres (519,322 gallons) on butterfat adjusted supply compared to September 2012. The Co-Op was 1.20% over quota after butterfat adjustment at the end of the September. Figures from the Department estimate the country was 0.42% over quota after butterfat adjustment at the end of September.

Teagasc National Dairy Conferences 2013

The 2013 Teagasc National Dairy Conference will take place on Tuesday, 12th November in Limerick and Wednesday, 13th November in Cavan. The theme for the conference is ‘Strategies for Sustainable Success’. The Conference will outline the key strategic decisions required by farmers in the areas of grassland, breeding and business planning in order to successfully grow their dairy business and to harvest the potential for additional milk production on the removal of milk quotas in 2015.

Date: Tuesday 12th November 2013
Location: Limerick Racecourse, Patrickswell, Co. Limerick

Date: Wednesday 13th November 2013
Location: Slieve Russell Hotel, Ballyconnell, Co. Cavan

Pre-booking is essential for the Conference. Registration is by email to dairy.conference@teagasc.ie or phone to 025 42664.For more information see www.teagasc.ie/events

Health Certificate

We remind suppliers to forward their completed Dairy Herd Health Certificate to the Co-Op when completed. The white copies of pages 1,3 and 4 should be sent to the Co-Op. We have spare certs for anybody who has lost their original. We will be unable to collect milk from 1st January 2014 without receiving a completed cert.

Milk Supply Agreement

All milk suppliers received a Milk Supply Agreement in May of this year. Each also received an Application for Annual Agreed Volume. We are reminding suppliers who wish to supply milk after the 1st April 2015 to complete Page 11 of the Milk Supply Agreement and to return the entire document to the Central Office if you have not already done so. The agreement gives the supplier security that their milk produced after 1st April 2015 is purchased by the Co-Op, processed and marketed. The Application for Annual Agreed Volume does not need to be completed until 31st October 2014.

Score Drinagh Feeds Promotion

See flyer included with the month’s accounts for details on this fantastic promotion.

Drinagh Agri Workshop

Drinagh Co-Op are hosting an Agri Work Shop on Wednesday 6th November in the West Cork Hotel, Skibbereen from 2.00pm to 9.00pm.
This is a great opportunity for farmers to avail of FREE information on a range of Agri related issues. Speak to our Creamery, Stores and Mill Representatives as well as Teagasc, Animal Health Ireland, Munster Group and other experts for free advice, information and demonstrations on a range of products and services.

Topics that will be covered include:

• Milk Supply Agreement.
• Sustainability & Dairy Quality Assurance Scheme.
• Greener Dairy Project.
• Johnes Disease Control Programme with AHI. Herd Health with Dr. Doreen Corridan.
• Winter Feeding.
• And a range of other topics.

There will also be a selection of trade stands in attendance. All are welcome to attend.

Dairy Expansion Workshop

A Dairy business expansion workshop will take place on Shinagh Dairy Farm, Bandon on Thurs 28-November, 2013. This event will only focus on financial planning, cash flow management and risk analysis. The objective of the event is to help farmers considering expansion to financially plan the expansion successfully.

The target audience is:

Dairy farmers expanding or considering expanding.
Drystock or tillage farmers interested in conversion to dairy.

New entrants to dairy farming.

The event will be limited to 200 people. Details of Shinagh Dairy farm and how it is performing compared to the original business plan will be discussed. The main part of the day will be three workshops. Farmers will be divided into groups of 15 for workshops to ensure good interaction between farmers, researchers and advisors.

The workshop will commence at 10.30am and will finish at 3.30pm.

It is important that you book into the event by Nov 1st as places are limited.

It will not be possible to turn up on the day without being booked in prior to the event. Participants should bring a pen and calculator and dress appropriately for the weather. All group sessions will be indoors but the Shinagh Dairy Farm update will be outdoors. Please ensure your clothes and boots are clean for bio-security reasons. The conference is free. Entrance to Shinagh will be off the Bandon Newcestown road only. Participants must bring their own lunch but tea will be provided.

Please book into the conference by phoning Teagasc Skibbereen at 028-21888 or email your name, address and contact number to Julie.OMahony@teagasc.ie before Friday-1st Nov. We Look Forward to seeing you on Nov 28th.