The deadline for farmers in the Republic of Ireland to apply for the voluntary milk reduction scheme is Thursday 15 September.

While the Irish deadline for the European Commission’s voluntary milk production reduction scheme is today (Thursday), farmers in other European countries still have some time to decide whether or not to opt in for the 14c/litre payment. A total of €150m is available under the scheme to reduce milk supply between October and December this year.

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.

Therefore it will be next week before a clearer picture will emerge as to how popular the €150m scheme will be.

Domestically, there are varying degrees of uptake from farmers. Co-ops have communicated details of the scheme to their suppliers in the past 10 days.

Large volumes of farmers in the northern half of the country are understood to have expressed interest in the scheme, while farmers in the southern half have shown less interest. This has been driven by turbulent weather conditions in recent week which resulted in a drop in milk yields and quality.

It will be the end of the week or into next week before an accurate picture on figures will be made known.

Co-ops have been advising farmers that if they have to change their management system in order to apply for the scheme then it is not worth applying for.

€500m package

The €150m voluntary reduction scheme is one aspect of the total €500m aid package for European farmers announced last month. Of the remaining €350m package, Ireland is receiving €11.1m, which the Government will match with Exchequer funds.

Agriculture Minister Michael Creeds has yet to decide how he will spend this money but the Department of Agriculture is understood to favour a support package for all livestock farmers, not just dairy farmers.

Farm organisations the IFA, the ICMSA, Macra and ICSA appeared before an Oireachtas agriculture committee this week arguing their case on how this money should be spent.