A cost analysis on any possible cow cull has not been carried out by the Department of Agriculture or Teagasc. Aidan Brennan and Declan O'Brien report.
A cow cull will see those who remain in milk being hit with higher processing charges.
ADVERTISEMENT
Culling 200,000 dairy cows will cost those who remain in milk production around €2,500 per year, on average, in higher processing costs.
New analysis by the Irish Farmers Journal puts the additional processing cost of a herd reduction scheme at around €39m.
However, this figure excludes the downstream impact on the rural economy of cutting Ireland’s dairy output by around 1bn litres, or 11%.
ADVERTISEMENT
The full impact is likely to cost the economy hundreds of millions of euro.
Minister for Agriculture Charlie McConalogue admitted to the Irish Farmers Journal that a financial impact analysis of reducing the national dairy herd has not been carried out by the Department of Agriculture or Teagasc.
A special working group has been established within the Department to examine the feasibility of a dairy cow cull.
A consultation document from the working group will be sent to stakeholders at the Food Vision dairy group this week.
The Irish Farmers Journal understands, however, that no detail on the cull package will be included in the document.
Register for free to read this story and our free stories.
This content is available to digital subscribers and loyalty code users only. Sign in to your account, use the code or subscribe to get unlimited access.
However, if you would like to share the information in this article, you may use the headline, summary and link below:
Title: Cull cow scheme to cost farmers millions
A cost analysis on any possible cow cull has not been carried out by the Department of Agriculture or Teagasc. Aidan Brennan and Declan O'Brien report.
The reader loyalty code gives you full access to the site from when you enter it until the following Wednesday at 9pm. Find your unique code on the back page of Irish Country Living every week.
CODE ACCEPTED
You have full access to the site until next Wednesday at 9pm.
CODE NOT VALID
Please try again or contact support.
Culling 200,000 dairy cows will cost those who remain in milk production around €2,500 per year, on average, in higher processing costs.
New analysis by the Irish Farmers Journal puts the additional processing cost of a herd reduction scheme at around €39m.
However, this figure excludes the downstream impact on the rural economy of cutting Ireland’s dairy output by around 1bn litres, or 11%.
The full impact is likely to cost the economy hundreds of millions of euro.
Minister for Agriculture Charlie McConalogue admitted to the Irish Farmers Journal that a financial impact analysis of reducing the national dairy herd has not been carried out by the Department of Agriculture or Teagasc.
A special working group has been established within the Department to examine the feasibility of a dairy cow cull.
A consultation document from the working group will be sent to stakeholders at the Food Vision dairy group this week.
The Irish Farmers Journal understands, however, that no detail on the cull package will be included in the document.
If you would like to speak to a member of our team, please call us on 01-4199525.
Link sent to your email address
We have sent an email to your address. Please click on the link in this email to reset your password. If you can't find it in your inbox, please check your spam folder. If you can't find the email, please call us on 01-4199525.
ENTER YOUR LOYALTY CODE:
The reader loyalty code gives you full access to the site from when you enter it until the following Wednesday at 9pm. Find your unique code on the back page of Irish Country Living every week.
SHARING OPTIONS