A new aid package for European dairy farmers is set to be put to a meeting of EU agriculture ministers next Monday (18 July).

The plans are currently being finalised by European Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development Phil Hogan, and while full details are unknown, it will be different to the last aid package, worth a total of €500m, announced in September 2015. That resulted in payments worth £5.1m being made directly to NI dairy farmers.

While it is hoped that a similar level of funding will be again made available, the suggestion that it could be as much as €500m has been described by sources as “wide of the mark”. It is hoped that the package will be financed from unspent funds, and that the Commission will not have to dip into the crisis reserve, which effectively means top-slicing payments to all farmers to fund a scheme. That would not prove popular with other farming sectors.

It also seems highly likely that there will be some conditions attached to how the money is spent, with Commissioner Hogan continuing to highlight the need to balance supply and demand in the European dairy market.

There is an acceptance that a voluntary scheme available from April using Article 222 has not worked without a financial incentive.