Dairy UK conference holds out hope in volatile times

It was possibly easy to get a bit depressed at the recent Dairy UK Conference in Birmingham. When John Lancaster, a lead analyst for dairy risk management at FCStone Commodity Risk explained how dairy prices are more volatile nowadays than most of the other “risky” markets, it was hard not to feel a bit queasy in the pit of one’s stomach. The jagged lines of volatility on the slides offered no comfort to anyone present. No wonder farmers were panicking.
However, help is now at hand, or at least the beginning of help. As processors and farmers unions finalised the voluntary code of best practice for the contractual relationships, there was a palpable air of relief from all that the worst may be over. Dairy UK director general Jim Begg certainly seemed like a man with a weight off his shoulders. “We’ve been very careful to make sure the agreement complies with the Office of Fair trading, so that it can be implemented as widely as possible, with members safe in the knowledge that they are operating within the confines of the competition law,” he says. “We think it will inspire cooperation in the future. We very much hope that people will see that cooperation will win every time, and understand the big picture and we can all move forward.”

Onwards, then. We can’t control the volatility, but the dairy industry can control its reaction to it.