Dairygold to start random testing of milk for pesticides
DAIRYGOLD is to start testing for pesticides this year, the co-op’s chief executive Jim Woulfe has confirmed.
In a move likely to be followed by other dairy processors, Mr Woulfe told a recent online webinar for suppliers and shareholders that the co-op was obliged under legislation to test a percentage of ex-farm milk for pesticides on an annual basis.
A co-op spokesman said the tests will be random in nature, rather than for a particular product.
When asked what level of penalties will be imposed for farmers found to have pesticides in their milk, the spokesman said the results will be reported to the Department of Agriculture.
Mr Woulfe also admitted during the webinar that operations at the cheese plant which the co-op has developed at Mogeely, Co Cork with Norwegian firm TINE may be delayed after an application for a judicial review was lodged with the High Court. The legal action relates to an EPA licence for a purified water pipeline. The new plant will produce Jarlsland cheese and is part of a wider drive to reduce the dairy sector’s dependence on exports of cheddar cheese to Britain given the changed post-Brexit trading climate.
Dairygold processed record volumes of milk in 2020 (1.4bn litres) — forecast to increase to 1.6bn litres by 2025 — but Mr Woulfe is understood to have assured farmers that the business has capacity to deal with expected higher supplies this spring and summer even if the new Mogeely factory is delayed.
Meanwhile, Ornua is planning a €40m expansion of its Kerrygold Park site in Mitchelstown, Co Cork.
Ornua said the expansion project, if it gets the green light, would create 120 temporary local jobs during construction and a further 30 additional permanent jobs when finished.