Brexit A Worry For Suppliers and Dairy Sector

Brexit A Worry For Suppliers and Dairy Sector

Strathroy Dairy director Ruairi Cunningham has said a lack of clarity regarding Brexit was a real worry for both milk suppliers and the wider dairy sector on both sides of the Border.

Ruairi said the uncertainty around Brexit meant that milk processors had to assess their options and in response to a hypothetical from the Independent Newspaper he said that Strathroy would consider establishing a processing plant in the Republic if the need arose.

"If it [opening a Southern plant] was required, would we do it? We'd certainly look at it.

"We didn't spend 30 years building up a business just to walk away from it," Cunningham said.

Plants in the Republic process around 25pc of the Northern Irish milk pool, with close to 9pc, or over 550m litres, of the milk processed in the Republic being sourced north of the Border.

The independent reported that this volume of trade requires almost 32,000 milk-truck trips across the Border each day.

Fixed Border controls would obviously cause serious delays and disruption to this business, and particularly for cross-Border operations such as Strathroy, Glanbia, Lacpatrick and Lakeland Dairies.

Find out about our Farmers

Find our Farmers