The European Commission is at an advanced stage of finalising an aid package for agriculture, the Irish Farmers Journal understands.

It is understood that the package will include private storage aid for dairy, beef and lamb.

The beef storage aid would be aimed at steak meat, for which demand has plummeted as restaurants remain shut across Europe.

The dairy storage aid will be for butter, skim milk powder and cheese.

The move follows intense lobbying by agriculture ministers and farm organisations across Europe.

Last weekend, Minister for Agriculture Michael Creed led a joint call by 27 EU agricultural ministers for greater action from the European Commission in support of farmers and the wider agri-food sector.

The Irish Farmers Journal understands that the European Commissioner for Agriculture Janusz Wojciechowski will meet via conference call with the Presidium of Copa Cogeca, the Brussels-based umbrella organisation for EU farm bodies. This will include IFA president Tim Cullinan.

Fund

The Irish Farmers Journal understands the package will be in the order of €80m.

However, that is unlikely to allay farmers’ fears over market prices.

Beef prices are at a 10-year low in Ireland, while milk prices have been cut by as much 2c/l by co-ops here. The situation is mirrored across Europe.

What is private storage aid?

PSA is an EU-funded support scheme to support processors to keep product in storage for a defined period, effectively taking it off the market in a time of excess supply.

The product – whether that is meat or dairy – can then be sold when markets have had a chance to recover.

Unlike intervention buying, ownership of the product remains with the processor, whereas with intervention, the EU purchases the product and chooses the time for releasing on to the market.

Shelf life

Storage and delayed marketing is an effective tool for supporting dairy products because of their relatively long shelf life.

However, it is much less so for beef, particularly steak meat which is devalued by between 25% and 50% as a result.

However, currently steak meat is impossible to sell and many beef factories are freezing production anyway with the steak meat of older cattle being used in manufacturing beef which is mainly steak and burgers.

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