This is a subscriber-only article
The dairy policy committee of the Ulster Farmers’ Union (UFU) has said that its members are “highly sceptical” that the voluntary milk supply reduction scheme announced by European Agriculture Commissioner Phil Hogan on Monday will benefit the NI dairy industry in the long term.
Speaking after a meeting of the UFU dairy policy committee on Thursday, chairman William Irvine highlighted a number of “serious concerns” that members had with scheme.
“Spread across 28 member states, €150m is not likely to stretch far enough to provide meaningful financial support to farmers,” Irvine said.
The committee questioned the three-month period from October to December for which payments of around 14c/litre would be paid for milk not produced compared to year earlier levels as winter milk bonuses are paid by processors at this time.
“A reduction in supply would hinder a business, especially as it is unlikely the payment coming from the voluntary reduction scheme would be on par with a farmer’s bonus,” Irvine said.
"Risky strategy"
He also described the scheme as “a risky strategy” as many other member states still appear not to be supportive of voluntary supply reduction.
“Our concern is that farmers here sacrifice milk output for a small amount in compensation, only to find that because others have not done so and then income is lost for no increase in the milk price,” Irvine said.
The committee has welcomed the €350m element of the package for distribution in national envelopes by member states (UK allocated €30.2m) but highlighted comments made by NI agriculture Minister Michelle McIlveen early on that “complex strings attached” could delay payments to farmers.
SHARING OPTIONS: