The years after Ireland joined the EEC, and the subsequent arrival of milk quotas, were exciting and witnessed dramatic change, said Michael O’Reilly. Michael is well-known to thousands of current and former Glanbia suppliers.

He started on the Avonmore side of the house and went on to become head of farm services.

“After Ireland joined the EU we encouraged guys to invest in cows, bigger milking machines and bigger milk tanks – some of them thought they would never fill those tanks.

“We saw the potential at farm level to increase output. On farm income, nothing could compete with milk. Farmers that expanded in the early days did very well. Milk price was 18p/gallon when we joined the EEC. It rose quickly to £1/gallon to bring us in line with EEC prices.

“They made phenomenal money. We felt farmers needed to take the opportunity – it mightn’t last forever.”

And of course it didn’t. Quotas came in 1984 with the base year backdated to 1983.

“There were mutterings about quotas. There was butter in storage on ships. But we didn’t see them coming that soon and we didn’t expect them to be backdated.”

Some latecomers got trapped mid-expansion.

“They had invested, but were now left with 50% unused capacity and loans to pay back. The nearer to 1983 and 1984 that expansion took place, then the worse the problem was.

“Avonmore’s milk intake increased by 20% in 1983 ... superlevy caused pandemonium. Some guys took a chance and by the time January and February came they were way over. Some of these guys needed the money. In desperation, we advised farmers to buy feeders and feed milk to calves ... they hadn’t the money to pay the superlevy fine. So we then started making deductions in advance – that didn’t go down too well.”

Processors got caught too. “Plants like Ballyragget had increased capacity, but now couldn’t use it. So the milk wars started. There was a lot of unproductive time spent minding the bit of milk you had, or chasing an extra bit to make up for some you lost. It seemed to me to be very wasteful.”

The temporary leasing and the restructuring schemes brought in a whole new era.

“We had a lot of guys with 10 and 20 cows who hadn’t expanded. They knew it was the end for them now. Many sent in their quota for temporary leasing and got a very good price. After a couple of years they sold to restructuring.”

Those years brought specialisation with dairy farmers dropping cereals, pigs and other enterprises and concentrating on milk.

Now, Michael is optimistic. “Guys who want to expand and develop can do so. There’ll always be risk.”

West of the Shannon

“Milk quotas were the regime of the time, we accepted them and got on with dealing with them,” said Seamus Monaghan, head of farm advisory with North Connacht Farmers, now subsumed into Aurivo.

“Superlevy wasn’t a big problem as the co-ops here rarely ended up over quota. We gave advice to farmers anyway if they went over quota. Some of them weren’t too happy when superlevy deductions were introduced. ‘You’re (ie NCF) getting paid, but we’re not’, they said. I replied that it was going in a drawer and that if there was superlevy it would go to Brussels.”

Back then, there wasn’t the same emphasis on production and getting calved cows out to grass.

“Production per head wasn’t within an ass’ roar of what it is now. There was a lot of emphasis on rearing the calf. The black and white was relatively new.”

Restructuring was a big issue.

“We always had demand for quota. Sellers always wanted more money for it. We told the man buying it that it was an investment for his future. It cost them a hell of a lot less than it did farmers in the southern heartland.”

The paperwork involved was huge. Seamus operated what were essentially weekly clinics in NCF’s many branches, discussing quota restructuring and related issues with suppliers.

“Invariably, after a long talk the farmer would hand you the pen and ask you to fill in the forms. We were trusted by farmers to give the correct advice. We had significant numbers availing of restructuring. We had an aging population of suppliers, for one thing.”

Ring-fencing kept milk processing in west of the Shannon and in the border counties.

“We fought tooth and nail for it. If we hadn’t had ring fencing it would have been like going away and leaving the yard gate open.”