Newtownsandes Co op

hp90

anotherservant wrote: »

Out of curiosity did these same suppliers receive detailed msa contracts with t&c before they signed up or was it like the nts contract... This is the price and sure haven't we always looked after ye being the t&c's!

the nts contract with n cork can't have much more time left in it. the fact that only 9 farmers signed up to put some of their milk into this contract says a lot. farmers were afraid to take a chance as they didn't trust the 'retired' manager's motives. it was a mistake on the farmers part but it was hard to blame them as they had no confidence in this scheme at the time.
kerry co-op did the same contract with their farmers after that but we never heard anything about that one. don't know if kerry didn't offer it to nts or if nts didn't advise the farmers.

Bar Pressure

As far as i know theres another year left in the N.Cork fixed price agreement.

olm12

the agm was the 31st may last and there is nearly four weeks gone by and absolutely NOTHING done by the board. its like waiting for a time bomb to go off as you can feel the tension in the air when around the village. it's the talk of the country as people far and wide can read it online and have also seen the article in the Farmers Journal.
the chairman and the board have really stuck their heads in the sand on this one. this isn't going to go away and they had better wake up to that fact.
im sure some of the creamery board are following this discussion and i hope they realise why it has to be this way. we will keep knocking on doors until someone listens to us. we can see the decline the creamery is in and we want ye to remove the rose tinted glasses and see the reality before it's too late. any business losing money can only last so long.

hp90

olm12 wrote: »

the agm was the 31st may last and there is nearly four weeks gone by and absolutely NOTHING done by the board. its like waiting for a time bomb to go off as you can feel the tension in the air when around the village. it's the talk of the country as people far and wide can read it online and have also seen the article in the Farmers Journal.
the chairman and the board have really stuck their heads in the sand on this one. this isn't going to go away and they had better wake up to that fact.
im sure some of the creamery board are following this discussion and i hope they realise why it has to be this way. we will keep knocking on doors until someone listens to us. we can see the decline the creamery is in and we want ye to remove the rose tinted glasses and see the reality before it's too late. any business losing money can only last so long.

some of the farmers on that board are fully aware of what is going on as they themselves are progressive farmers and very genuine people. for the sake of the parish they will have to get together and talk to the chairman and not be intimidated by the 'retired' manager. they would all be highly thought of if they brought peace to the whole affair. us farmers voted them in to represent us fairly.

F15

The Future of creamery and farming community is in the hands of the Bord its declining with 5 to 10 years Change is the only way of going forward

Bar Pressure

Im baffled by the lack of leadership shown by the board,their silence and apparent lack of interest is leading to all sorts of accusations being levelled against them,most of which probably untrue. Speaking to a farmer from outside the parish yesterday, the board was brought up, he gave me a knowing smile and said "all the animals on the farm were equal
, but some were more equal than others".

F15

There is even a number of the Bord under 40 or around that age do they want a future? Management is stale it's time for new manager and farmers to control their future

hhg

following this discussion lately and it seems to be all about gm what is the chairman doing about this conflict how old is he?
is he a milk supplier or a dry shareholder?

Water John

Correct, this is the Chairman's baby. Also concern of the Company Secretary.

capall1

Lads, is there another perspective??
Fair enough there might be need for some change.
We also heard of a young man after the meeting suggesting an elder statesman might not be safe if he visits the creamery at night.
Call this for what it is, its Bullying!!!

Some of the unfair comment on this thread is deliberately set up to target the management .............. some of this is also bullying!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The letter to the dealer in the Farmers Journal shows the same lack of courage without a name!! and very poor journalism on the part of the Farmers Journal for not researching everything about the co-op.

Lets be fair

The co-op is in existance since 1895
It has had some ups and downs in that period, but to be fair the GM that some have grievance with has worked so hard for this co-op, and overall he ran a tight ship, and it has served the community well over this time. So thank you GM for your work, you have served the community well
We have a very difficult year in dairy farming, and the losses in the industry are being felt in every business in north Kerry .

I say we stick together , as farmers we are stronger together with a common agenda, it doesn't matter what co-op we supply, be it Newtownsandes, Kerry Agri, North Cork or Glanbia.
So no more BULLYING, and try to work as a community with the structures in place, (and maybe structures might need change, but from within only)
For my part I will not take any further part in this thread, no matter what negative comment it might generate
I wish everyone linked to Newtownsandes Co-op well, and I hope it works well for the next 100 years.

Sincerly ..............................

hp90

oji wrote: »

I was back in moyvane today I heard a rumour the gala shop is to close I hope that's not so it's very important to the village and the hinterland the hardware shop now is doing silage plastics has all water fittings piping fencing farm supplies it's a small area moyvane but per square km it must be as highly populated with dairy cows as any part of western Europe are there many young farmers there an old guy told me there could be upto 5000 cows in the catchment area that sound a lot that's a ready made business on that creamery s door step ? that's why you have these other companies thriving if they get a foot hold it will be hard to win back business

shouldn't any business be thriving to be sitting in the middle of such an intense dairying area. look at the requirements needed there. how many thousand tons feed and fertilizer alone would be needed not to mention all the other requirements. i was talking to two farmers after mass today and they would be willing to trade with nts again if the retired gm wasn't there calling the shots and having the co-op stuck in a time warp.

anotherservant

capall1 wrote: »

Lads, is there another perspective??
Fair enough there might be need for some change.
We also heard of a young man after the meeting suggesting an elder statesman might not be safe if he visits the creamery at night.
Call this for what it is, its Bullying!!!

Some of the unfair comment on this thread is deliberately set up to target the management .............. some of this is also bullying!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The letter to the dealer in the Farmers Journal shows the same lack of courage without a name!! and very poor journalism on the part of the Farmers Journal for not researching everything about the co-op.

Lets be fair

The co-op is in existance since 1895
It has had some ups and downs in that period, but to be fair the GM that some have grievance with has worked so hard for this co-op, and overall he ran a tight ship, and it has served the community well over this time. So thank you GM for your work, you have served the community well
We have a very difficult year in dairy farming, and the losses in the industry are being felt in every business in north Kerry .

I say we stick together , as farmers we are stronger together with a common agenda, it doesn't matter what co-op we supply, be it Newtownsandes, Kerry Agri, North Cork or Glanbia.
So no more BULLYING, and try to work as a community with the structures in place, (and maybe structures might need change, but from within only)
For my part I will not take any further part in this thread, no matter what negative comment it might generate
I wish everyone linked to Newtownsandes Co-op well, and I hope it works well for the next 100 years.

Sincerly ..............................

Well the consultant may have served us well in the past. But its time for fresh impetus to drive us forward. Would you care to give further insight into the change from within that you would invisage.

moy11

capall glad to see you recognise the need for change. that seems to be the common thread all through this discussion.
the FJ only wrote on what happened at the agm and the reasons for the discontent at same. none of this would have happened if your chairman Martin J. took the farmers seriously when they asked for icos to be brought to mediate and resolve the issues. you can only blame yourselves for the unwanted media attention this has brought.

hhg

again this is all to do with the poor decisions by your chairman he should grab the bull by the horns sit down with icos and troubled shareholders/suppliers and solve the problems ye have before it gets any worse

olm12

hhg wrote: »

following this discussion lately and it seems to be all about gm what is the chairman doing about this conflict how old is he?
is he a milk supplier or a dry shareholder?

the chairman is about 50. he only took the seat last year so i guess he is inexperienced in how to deal with the present situation but the problems existed when he took over position of chairman so he should have been prepared. some farmers met with him in the creamery office shortly after he being elected. they discussed some issues they wanted sorted but they weren't taken seriously even back then. its like after the agm when two farmers called to him three times trying to get some order restored and their request also ignored. i guess he should resign if he isn't able for the position

Bar Pressure

Capall you make some valid points,and I regret you feel the discussion is bourne out of spite and vindictiveness ,for me it's always been about finances and their management . For example the 2015 accounts,end of year trade debtors figure was 1.7 million,the cash at bank was 2.05 million. Question,is the creamery in a position to support the 2016 milk price?

moy11

Bar Pressure wrote: »

Capall you make some valid points,and I regret you feel the discussion is bourne out of spite and vindictiveness ,for me it's always been about finances and their management . For example the 2015 accounts,end of year trade debtors figure was 1.7 million,the cash at bank was 2.05 million. Question,is the creamery in a position to support the 2016 milk price?

i never realised that the cash in the bank was gone so low and how could a small co-op like nts have a figure of 1.7m trade debtors. there should be a breakdown of the 1.7m given. how much owed by farmers and how much by the milk processors or whoever else owes anything. you would think the farmers would have their debts cleared at that stage of the year and the processors couldn't owe that much for milk got in november and december.

Water John

A % of farmers never get their acc out of the red.

moy11

Water John wrote: »

A % of farmers never get their acc out of the red.

i would have thought every traders acc should be cleared at the end of every year. i def think there should be a breakdown of how long debts are outstanding i.e one year, two years etc.. or if there are longer running debts where maybe money was given to help purchase land or buy tractors.. nts co-op is not a bank but it's rumoured that money may have been given 'on loan' for such purchases. if this is true then i think long term debts should be shown seperately to the regular trading debts.

Water John

As I said previously, the accs breakdown is usually under and over 12 months.

All processors have significant trading acc money with farmers, some more than others. In many ways a good earner for some. Working capital available for less than 2% yet making good interest from farmers.

olm12

Water John wrote: »

As I said previously, the accs breakdown is usually under and over 12 months.

All processors have significant trading acc money with farmers, some more than others. In many ways a good earner for some. Working capital available for less than 2% yet making good interest from farmers.

well i guess if the co-op are charging interest on this 'working capital' it has out then that will bring our profits up. did anyone check the audited accounts and see if this interest was listed anywhere.. maybe someone could contact PwC and get them to double check where this interest charged is sitting.

soccer20

lads i've been following this discussion and i just can't stay quiet any longer. ye don't be long forgetting all the good that manager has done for us. no one else could run the creamery like he does. who else would be so dedicated to put in all those long hours. in early in the mornings to have everything up and running for when the other staff arrive. comes back at night after the milk trucks have finished to make sure the books and everything is in order and even comes in saturdays and sundays and takes no holidays. who else would do this. we had his retirement party three years ago and he should be taking it easy now and god knows he deserves to but he won't because he is so dedicated to that creamery he has devoted his life to it. cop on and show some respect. basically everyone on that board was democratically elected so get over it. our chairman was only doing his job.

UpTheBoro

In my mind that kind of post sums up this whole issue. People are backing their man irrespective of the points and questions being asked. Why can't people address the questions being asked without harking back to the old argument of "the man has given his life to the co-op ..."

I'll use a footballing analogy...

Mick O'Dwyer was one, if not THE greatest football manager ever. After leading Kerry to eight All-Ireland titles, the Kerry county board saw that the writing was on the wall after 3 unsuccessful years. It was no doubt a tough decision for the county board to take after many years of success, and one in which Micko himself was hurt by, but all would agree that it was for the best and in the greater interest of Kerry football.

The reason for that analogy is that in football and in business, when you are the manager, you are only as good as the results you produce. Sadly in recent times the growth and financial results of the co-op are not standing the test. And its time for the Co-op to make radical changes if it is to survive!

I for one hope the Co-op does survive, but in my opinion in its current state survival is no longer guaranteed.

moy11

well said uptheboro! but you probably should have used an analogy with a limerick manager!
people have this thing about loyalty. dogs are always very loyal to their masters even staying by their side when they have passed on. soccer20 is obviously one of the 18 apostles but i wonder would offering him three pieces of silver do any good? unless he can walk on water i'd be looking for the lifejacket as this ship is sinking.

olm12

well soccer20 glad to see the 'retired' manager so conscientious. don't know why we need so much staff in the creamery when he seems to be doing it all. why would he need to be in so early 'to get things ready' for the others. what on earth is there to do that the other four staff in the office can't do or that he doesn't want them to do. does he not trust them. and surely there is absolutely no need to be coming in late to the office. is there that much paperwork to go through or what is he at. it is very mysterious. surely sunday is a day to relax and spend with family. if he has that many hours given to the creamery all week then you'd think he would at least stay out of the place on sundays. now if what you say soccer20 is true about he taking no holidays on top of all the time he is already spending in the office then i would begin to wonder.

hp90

soccer20 your last line was 'our chairman was only doing his job'. he made a fine job of it alright didn't he. if he had done his job right then we wouldn't be discussing this online today. this is the talk of the place and not just in kerry but all over ireland and all over the world thanks to social media. got an email from a friend in america asking what the story was. he said we were a very quiet bunch and putting up with a lot. he said we should be protesting at the gates of the creamery and refusing to co-operate with the creamery until our problems are sorted. i said to him that i hope it won't come to that

F15

Our chairman showed his true colours before the agm and you soccer 20 disagreed with him il add ! If our retired manager is doing so much what is our GM doing are you going to justify his wages ? It's a small creamery not the county council

hp90

F15 wrote: »

Our chairman showed his true colours before the agm and you soccer 20 disagreed with him il add ! If our retired manager is doing so much what is our GM doing are you going to justify his wages ? It's a small creamery not the county council

can't understand why anyone needs to spend so much time in the office. the accountants are paid enough to look after the books even though i was reading a report about the anglo irish bank and they were given a green light six months before they went belly up. sean fitzpatrick apparently admitted that he had hidden 87million in loans from the bank. bit of an oversight there by anglo's accountants.

Bar Pressure

Up the Boro's post has summed up the whole argument in an elaquent and dispassionate manner. As has already been explained, 2 shareholders representing a larger group handed a letter to the chairman requesting icos to mediate in a meeting between coop management and these shareholders to resolve concerns they have. This idea was put aside by management in favour of an internal solution being found. Given the huge difference in views be expressed online is an internal solution possible?,is it time to get icos involved?

Water John

That issue is not managements call. That request should be read out at a Board meeting and dealt with there. Normally one would need may be 10% shareholders signing to give it weight.