Farmers DeltaMilk still receive membership fees

The DeltaMilk dairy farmers who supplied the Turkish cheese maker Özgazi from Etten-Leur between 2008 and 2010 will still be paid part of the milk money. The court in Den Bosch decided this in the appeal that the dairy farmers had lodged. They were of the opinion that the agreed reference price had not been met.

The case dates from the period when DeltaMilk was a supplier association. The case took place almost 10 years ago, but is still current. This is because Bel Leerdammer is currently doing the same with its suppliers dispute fight out. At the time, DeltaMilk had agreed with Özgazi that the milk price would be based on the milk price of Cono Kaasmakers, with a supplement of €2,50 per 100 kilos.

Membership fee not paid
However, Cono's milk price is an advance, to which membership fees are paid afterwards. In addition, dairy farmers could still receive premiums from Cono for grazing and 'Caring Dariy' (sustainability). The shoe pinches at this point, because the DeltaMilk dairy farmers believe that they are also entitled to the supplementary payment and supplements that fall within the milk money of Cono Kaasmakers. In practice, they were only paid the advance price, plus the surcharge of €2,50 per 100 kilos.

The case was submitted to the court in 2016, which initially ruled against the 33 dairy farmers in question. However, they then appealed, assisted by Te Biesebeek Advocaten from Zwolle. On appeal, the court in Den Bosch has partly ruled in favor of the dairy farmers. The members' allowance must still be paid with retroactive effect, but the grazing and sustainability allowance must not. Teunis Sterk, the former chairman of Delta Milk, reports that there is no burden of proof to prove that the dairy farmers complied with these requirements at the time, although in his view this was the case.

A deal is a deal
Sterk is still involved in this case, because he made the agreements at the time (in collaboration with the other board members). He indicates that DeltaMilk had agreed with Özgazi at the time that all possible supplements on the basic milk price would be paid. However, the pasture and sustainability allowance were not specifically defined, so the court ruled otherwise.

Membership fees are still being paid. Sterk is therefore still satisfied with the judge's verdict. "The ruling also indicates that agreements made between dairy processors and dairy farmers must actually be complied with in practice." The dairy farmers are entitled to an amount of approximately €200.000. In addition, they receive an interest of 8% for the years that they have missed this amount. The amount therefore rises to €375.000. The amounts per dairy farmer vary between €1.000 and €17.000. "Although these are not world amounts, it is still a nice windfall for the dairy farmers," says Sterk.  

Call Leerdammer
The case between DeltaMilk and Özgazi is now almost 10 years ago, but the case between Bel Leerdammer and the suppliers has a similar effect. Bel Leerdammer's suppliers also believe that they have received too little milk money. A ruling in this case is expected shortly.

Wouter Job

Wouter Baan is editor-in-chief of Boerenbusiness. He also focuses on dairy, pig and meat markets. He also follows (business) developments within agribusiness and interviews CEOs and policymakers.

w.baan@boerenbusiness. Nl

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