Thursday 15 September was the Irish deadline for those who wished to apply for the EU’s voluntary milk production reduction scheme.

Approximately 20m litres of milk have been entered into the scheme by 1,331 Kerry suppliers, accounting for 11% of the co-op’s milk supply.

Meanwhile, Glanbia told the Irish Farmers Journal that approximately 13% of Glanbia suppliers have applied for the EU Supply Control Scheme with an average proposed reduction of 25% on October to December 2015 supply.

"Total proposed reduction is 13 million litres, 0.6% of forecast 2016 supply," a spokesperson for Glanbia said.

Arrabawn and Lakeland had 190 and 100 applications respectively. Arrabawn has reported that the volumes applied for account for less than 4% of its total supply for the period, while that number is not known yet for Lakeland.

Dairygold has said that in excess of 300 farmers representing 10% of its suppliers have applied, mostly for small volumes.

Around one quarter of Lac Patrick's southern suppliers applied for the scheme, accounting for an estimated 1.5 million litres which is 7% of the processor's supply.

Aurivo has also been contacted by the Irish Farmers Journal but has not yet responded.

Member States have until 21 September to notify the European Commission of the intended volumes, following the expression of interest from farmers at national level.

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