Heydon: No formal EU scheme proposed for voluntary cuts in milk output
No formal proposal for an EU voluntary milk reduction scheme has been tabled by the European Commission, according to the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine.
But Minister Martin Heydon said together with many of his EU counterparts he has highlighted concerns about the future dairy market situation at AgriFish Council meetings.
Currently the European Commission has "no formal proposal" in place to back calls for an EU-wide voluntary milk supply reduction scheme, where producers "would be paid to reduce their milk output temporarily for a defined period".
Measures like this were introduced by the European Commission in 2016 in response to "exceptional market pressures" at that time following the abolition of milk quotas.
The European Milk Board (EMB) has warned that record milk volumes are driving Europe towards "the next price collapse".
The EMB has repeatedly called on the European Commission to introduce a Voluntary Volume Reduction Scheme.
The Irish Creamery Milk Suppliers' Association (ICMSA) has also urged Minister Heydon to support an EU-wide milk supply reduction scheme.
Milk supply
According to ICMSA president Denis Drennan, "at least" seven EU member states have expressed support for a scheme that will provide milk producers with a price per litre to voluntarily not produce milk for a defined period.
Drennan has warned that "dairy farmers all over the state are now being wiped out by a fatal combination of below-costs-of-production milk price and surging inputs, principally, fuel and fertiliser".
In response to a question raised by the Fianna Fáil TD for Kerry, Michael Cahill, Minister Heydon said any proposed supply reduction scheme would be carefully considered "in the context of current market conditions across all member states and budget availability under the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) to ensure the most effective response for Irish dairy farmers who are coming into peak milk production season".
"My department is in close contact with the European Commission and with the other member states, as well as the dairy farming representatives, regarding developments in agricultural markets.
"We will continue to engage constructively at EU level on any measures that will support Irish family farm incomes and that help stabilise the market," the minister added.
