I realise the comparison to a Tesco shareholder might not be the best but none the less arla is a buisness that farmers have a share in, they dont have anything like the control over arla that they do over their own farms. Not that that matters providing they are happy with the direction of travel
Which milk buyer?
That is not the point. They key difference, and it is a huge difference, is that mission statement and the difference it makes to how the company acts. I could buy shares in another processor but they would not have that mission statement unless they were a farmer owned cooperative.
Retailers have things they would like farmers to do.
Perhaps the comparison to a Tesco shareholder wasn’t the best but the fact is no farmer is in control of arla, they are merely members.
The last thing you want is a large multinational dairy company being run by farmers , it would be an almost instant road to ruin, we're farmers not marketeers . However being overseen by democratically elected farmers is a good balance . It would be very rare for the farmers to over rule management but it can happen , I have seen it happen and there is nothing that could not be over turned by the farmers were there the democratic will for it to happen .
The type of control you refer to would only be possible if the farmers processes and sells his own milk. The only way a business the size of Arla can be run is through a democratic structure otherwise there would be 10000 different ideas of how things should be each with a vested interest on their own business at home and how decisions will affect them personally. Could you see that working.
Neither do you want it run by accountants or managers that do not understand the on farm issues or the "ethos " of a coop, that is where farmer reps come in. Sometimes it's about doing the "right thing"
Organic versus conventional
In my experience when members have contacted me about a problem, we have managed to sort it. I have become aware of a couple of issues where members had problems but were mistakenly unwilling to talk to me about them. I think I would have been able to help sort out their problems but did not get a chance. In my experience Arla staff have always put in the extra yard to help members, if 1. They are able to fully understand the problem sometimes with the help of a farmer representative and 2. The farmer involved does not get extremely offensive and abusive. By that I do mean extremely, which I have seen on occasion and makes solving things much more difficult, but still not impossible.
Yes, it is the same here. We got reamed in 2015 as well. The timing is never good but it is particularly bad for me, as I near the point of retirement. We are not the only industry suffering of course but fairly unique perhaps in the inequality of the pain wrought on businesses that have all the running costs regardless, 7 days a week come rain, shine, death or financial shitstorm.
who is your milk buyer?
You have about as much chance of finding that out as how many animals a market commentator finishes every year, or get his facts from!
Some would name their buyer, others would tell you how to do anything and everything but keep tight lipped on anything about themselves.