Milk quota price 'must be reduced'- Cronin

By Regina Fogarty

Dairy farmers will get nothing from a milk quota exchange but higher costs, ICMSA Dairy Committee chairperson Dominic Cronin has said.

Cronin was responding to proposals set out in the 14 August edition of the Farmers Journal by the Agricultural Consultants Association (ACA). The ACA had suggested that farmers planning to exit milk production could be allowed to sell their quota on the open market. Cronin rejected this as "another form of a milk quota exchange'' and restated the ICMSA's "full support'' of all quota going through the Restructuring Scheme. He also said that deviating from the Restructuring Scheme would "worsen the position of farmers who have insufficient quota'', and warned farmers against accepting these proposals.

"I would warn farmers not to be taken in by these proposals - of either quota exchange or quota floating on the free market. All of these proposals, if adopted by the Minister, would mean higher quota prices above the 70c/gallon maximum proposed by ICMSA and most quota going into the hands of a smaller number of farmers.''

Cronin said that the three categories of quota size need to be held. "The facts are that the average quota size in Ireland is 45,000 gallons, but 73% of farmers are Category One, rising to 89% in Categories One and Two.''

He urged the Minister to lower the quota cost and to retain the Restructuring Scheme. "We should move cautiously forward until we see what amount of quota will flow into the Restructuring Scheme in April 2005,'' he said. He then concluded by saying that the Minister "should now announce the price for next year's Milk Quota Restructuring Scheme. The delay by the Minister is causing a degree of uncertainty.''