He said this meant the merger, confirmed only days away from the UK exiting the EU, was vital for dairy farmers in the North East of the island of Ireland, and it must now be bedded down as soon as possible to start delivering for them.
Mr Healy said: “The merged entity must position itself in the best possible way to optimise dairy processing and marketing and to pay a strong price to farmers. This is particularly critical in the context of Brexit, as both constituent co-ops have farmer members and processing facilities both sides of the border”.
IFA National Dairy Chairman Tom Phelan added: “I wish the new merged co-op the very best: dairy farmers in the North East need a strong co-op to defend their business interests, especially with a potentially problematic Brexit only days away”.
“Dairy farmers in the region need to know that the co-operative business they charge with collecting, processing, adding value and marketing their milk will be optimally efficient. This merger must reward the confidence shown by shareholders in both LacPatrick and Lakeland, by delivering added value and stronger milk prices,” he concluded.