Dublin, April 15 - Irish dairy farmers are holding a series of protests against cuts in the price of milk supplied to food producer Glanbia, the Irish Farmers' Association said on Wednesday.
"Dairy farmers supplying Glanbia are experiencing unprecedented financial difficulties and it is not unreasonable to expect Glanbia to share some of the pain," IFA National Dairy Committee Chairman Richard Kennedy said.
Public broadcaster RTE said 1,400 farmers attended a rally on Tuesday and the IFA said more demonstrations were planned for Wednesday and Thursday.
A spokeswoman for Glanbia said it reviewed the price of milk on a monthly basis to reflect fluctuations in the global market for dairy products.
In its 2008 annual report published last week, Glanbia said 2009 would be a tough year as global dairy markets were expected to remain weak and volatile.
Glanbia, which ranks itself as Europe's biggest supplier of mozzarella cheese for pizzas, still expects to increase earnings this year in the low to mid single digits in percentage terms, it said.
Shares in Glanbia dropped 1.1 percent in early trade, broadly in line with the wider Irish market. Glanbia's move to cut milk costs should help restore its Irish commodity processing division to modest profitability, said NCB analyst Paul Meade.
"There are signs that global dairy commodity markets are stabilising, and improving demand should see market prices firming," Meade said, adding that Glanbia's diverse product range would help it weather the challenging market conditions.