MPO meets with Free State producers

The MPO Free State met with producers in Clocolan on 25 September. The aim was to support the approximately 60 farmers in the area who face difficult market conditions. Producers in the region are experiencing problems with late payments for delivered milk and drastic price reductions.

The existence and role of the MPO was also discussed in detail. Producers were reminded of the important role they play in the MPO to elect regional representatives. The elected regional representatives are the management of the MPO Free State, from which the chairman of the region is elected nationally, who then serves on the board of MPO. The board and the chairman get direct orders from producers to handle certain matters on their behalf, locally and nationally. MPO Free State chairman Gideon Lamprecht said: “In my opinion, the biggest problem in the Free State is that milk producers have become uninvolved and are no longer actively in control of what they expect from the MPO. Some aspects should be addressed by producers individually, such as management issues at farm level, while other issues must be dealt with on regional and national level, such as imports.”

The meeting ended with the exchange of practical ideas between producers to manage the current situation.