Major changes in the milk quota scheme, which will involve breaking the link between quotas and the land, were announced yesterday by the Minister for Agriculture and Food, Mr Walsh, who said he was seeking a more flexible approach to milk production.
Until now milk could be produced only on land used for dairying in 1984, when the quota system was brought in. To purchase milk quotas, farmers also had to buy the land. However, farmers could lease quotas. The Minister, who also allocated 20 million gallons of extra milk production won by Ireland in the last reform of the Common Agricultural Policy, Agenda 2000, said private leases would cease by April 1st next.
In future, he said, all sales and leasing will be carried out through local co-operatives, which will manage the quota system. This will ensure that milk production will stay in the areas where it is carried on at present.
"We could not have a system where all milk production would be carried on in any one region of the country. Working the system through co-operatives will ensure that this does not happen," he said.
Mr Walsh said the new arrangement was aimed at encouraging the best possible development of the industry, while recognising the interests of the parties involved.
He said that as part of the alternative system of quota transfers, there would be a restriction on the number of times full quotas might be leased on a temporary basis. Issue of family transfers or illness or other exceptional difficulties would also be addressed.
Dealing with the allocation of the additional milk, Mr Walsh said that 15 million gallons would be made available to producers with quotas below 55,000 gallons who had produced 90 per cent of their quota in two of the three quota years 1995-98.
They would be entitled to the extra quota if they had not sold or leased quota with land during that time and if they had not temporarily leased quota in more than one year during the period. Farmers who had acquired quota on a permanent or temporary basis during that period would also qualify. Mr Walsh said he was making five million gallons of milk available to younger active producers who had begun milk production since 1993. These would need to have produced 90 per cent of the quota they currently held and they would also need to have been under 35 at the start of milk production. This scheme, he said, would insist that these farmers had educational qualifications and a maximum quota of 35,000 gallons. The maximum allocation to young farmers in this category would be 5,000 gallons.
The Minister said the schemes, which have yet to be sanctioned by Brussels, were designed to target active producers to prepare them for the challenges of the future.
He said that in all there were currently 31,000 milk producers in the State and 21,000 of them would benefit from the 20 million gallon share-out. How much they receive depends on the number who apply. If everyone applies, they will receive a 688-gallon allocation.
In another important move, the Minister increased the milk quota limit on farmers who have mixed herds of dairy and beef cattle. Farmers who hold 30,628-gallon quotas will now qualify for suckler cow premiums.
The Irish Farmers' Association yesterday welcomed the package. Its dairy committee chairman, Mr Padraig Walshe, said the Minister's move to give substantial allocations to young producers was a positive step.
He said that producers receiving additional quota should be told as soon as possible how much they were getting, and the Minister should now concentrate on the vital area of quota management.