The Irish Farmers’ Association has warned that dairy farmers are at “near breaking point” as supermarket giants like Lidl, Tesco, Aldi, and Supervalu slash milk prices. While shoppers welcome the news, the IFA says that milk price cuts have already caused an average loss of €50,000 for dairy farmers this year. Grocery price inflation has skyrocketed to a record high of over 16%, according to recent figures from Kantar, and the price of milk has increased by 24% since the start of the war in Ukraine last year, says CSO data. The IFA’s Liquid Milk Committee chair Keith O’Boyle warns that farmers will bear the brunt of the price cuts, pushing them to the brink of collapse. This comes as farmers are already facing the highest production costs in the history of farming, and they’ve already endured cuts earlier this year.
Meanwhile, Labour finance spokesperson Ged Nash reports that supermarkets are “price gouging,” and prices need to decrease across the board. Government intervention is necessary to stamp out the “greedflation” infecting the grocery sector, says Nash. Retailers must be brave like farmers and commit to substantial price reductions across their range of products. The situation requires action and acknowledgment from the government that something must give.
