December 13, 2007

 

EU milk quota rise may rake 35 million euros

 

 

A proposed 2 percent milk quota rise by the European Commission effective Aoril 1 next year could take 35 million euros a year in creamery cheques to Irish dairy farmers on current average prices.

 

The proposed hike to meet growing demand in the EU and on global markets would boost the Irish national milk pool by 100 million litres.

 

In a statement issued in Brussels, the Commission said the quota escalation would apply on an equal basis to the 27 EU member states.

 

The commission said the increase does not prejudge the ongoing review of the dairy market in the health check of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), where the Commission has suggested a gradual increase in quotas before they expire on March 31, 2015.

 

EU Agriculture and Rural Development Commissioner Mariann Fischer Boel said CAP reform will free farmers to produce for the market and restrictive milk quotas are inconsistent with that aim.

 

A sharp rise in milk prices over the past year and a growing call for higher quotas will call for demand for high value-added dairy products - particularly cheese - particularly in Europe and around the world, she said. Farmers must therefore be equipped to meet the demand, Fischer Boel adds.

 

IFA dairy committee chairman Richard Kennedy said the 2 percent quota increase falls short of the original 3 percent proposal it had made last June, but it was a step in the right direction.

 

He said the EU should anticipate the CAP health check to allow Irish dairy farmers an opportunity to raise production while markets are strong and crying out for product.

 

Kennedy said the quota increase must benefit all milk producers in Ireland. While few member states will fill the increased volume, the capacity does exist here to meet the increase.

 

Macra na Feirme -- an Irish voluntary youth group said a bigger rise in quota would be more beneficial for Ireland's dairy industry, but the proposed increase must be welcomed.

 

According to the group's president Catherine Buckley, the rise needs to be targeted at young farmers if the real benefit to the industry is to be realised.

 

Young farmers are now becoming an invisible category as they now only represent 8 percent of the farming community. These farmers are the future lifeblood of the industry and must be supported, she said.

 

Buckley said a small increase in quotas for all farmers will have a negligible effect on producers whereas a targeted approach would breed new life into the industry.

 

She called for an active participation of the young people in the dairy sector as it "very well placed to compete internationally".