Ireland has filled its allocated quota for cheese to be put into the newest Private Storage Aid (PSA) scheme in the first week of the scheme opening. During the week of the 19th of October, Ireland offered 2,190t of cheese for private storage, far surpassing the 1,835t allocated by the European Commission.

When quantities offered into PSA by a country exceed the allocated national ceiling, the excess quantity must be discarded. Ireland exceeded its ceiling by 355t.

Aid package

The latest PSA scheme opened in late October after the EU Commission agreed a €500m aid package for European farmers. Under the aid package, the Commission opened up additional room within a new PSA scheme for 100,000t of cheese. Each member state was given a share of this 100,000t based on their respective cheese production, with the largest allocations going to Germany, France and the Netherlands.

The latest figures from the EU Milk Market Observatory also indicate that volumes of dairy product being offered by countries into private storage and intervention schemes continues to dwindle. Just 234t of butter were offered into private storage by the combined 28 EU member states in the last week of October, significantly down from the peak of the dairy crisis in August when a combined 7,274t were offered into PSA.

Similarly, the volume of skimmed milk powder (SMP) offered into intervention has dropped. Just 119t were offered for intervention at the end of October, all of which came from France.