Irish dairy farmers have suffered a 30% fall in their milk's price over the past two years - and they are unlikely to enjoy an increase in prices any time soon.

Kevin Bellamy, a leading dairy and food analyst with Rabobank in the Netherlands will address over 400 delegates at the Agricultural Science Association Annual Conference today, he joined Vincent Wall on Breakfast Business to talk about the current slump in milk prices.

"Short term, there's more milk than market around the world," he began, summing up the current market conditions. He adds that it is unlikely that prices will recover until well into the new year.

When asked if the market has bottomed-out Mr Bellamy says that there is still a possibility that prices could go lower - but intervention buying mechanisms which are designed to control the market will stop prices from falling much further.

Since milk quotas were abolished Irish producers have invested in expanding their production capacity - Mr Bellamy says that despite the dipping prices, this is still a sound long-term strategy, and that demand will increase when the current exceptionally-challenging market conditions pass.

He also noted that when an upturn comes the weak value of the euro will put Irish producers in an ideal position to grow again.

The FAO Food Price Index, the global price for five major food commodity groups: cereals, meat, dairy products, vegetable oils and sugar fell by more than 5% last month, its sharpest fall since December 2008.

The price of major food commodities have dropped to their lowest levels since 2008, according to the UN’s Food & Agriculture Organisation.