The Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine Michael Creed T.D. today announced details of how Irish dairy farmers can apply for the EU voluntary milk supply management scheme which was recently agreed in Brussels. The scheme has an overall budget of €150m to cover all applicants across the EU and there are no individual allocations for Member States.

The Minister said, “This scheme represents the latest in a wide suite of measures adopted at EU level to address ongoing volatility in the dairy sector. Farmers wishing to reduce production in a 3 month period starting in October will be able to do so and receive EU aid to the value of approximately 14cents/litre. It will be an individual decision for each farmer to weigh up the pros and cons of any route, taking issues such as market conditions, on farm efficiency and costs into account”

The scheme, which is voluntary, facilitates farmers who wish to reduce production in a 3 month period, the first period being October to December this year. Any reduction in output will be measured against their production in the same period in 2015. There are plans for further rolling three-month reduction periods after this but only applications for the first period are being accepted now. The roll-out of the scheme beyond this first period will be dependent on some of the €150m budget being available after it has ended.

Just as with the Superlevy Instalment Scheme last year, interested applicants may apply via their milk purchaser who will have the application forms. Interested farmers must clearly state the amount by which they propose to reduce their output from October to the end of the year compared to the same period last year. The closing date for farmers to return completed forms to their milk purchasers is Thursday 15th September. A detailed FAQ note has been prepared which should help to answer any queries from interested applicants and is available on the DAFM website at  

http://www.agriculture.gov.ie/farmingsectors/dairy/voluntarysupplymanagementschemeforthedairysector/

The Minister concluded: “This scheme is now launched and I would encourage farmers who have an interest in finding out more or wish to avail of the scheme to contact their milk purchaser who can supply them with explanatory material and application forms if needed. This launch is the first implementation of the agreement on the €500m package from the July Council meeting of Agriculture Ministers. I expect to be making further announcements in the near future on the implementation of the second package of direct aid of €11.1m to Ireland".

Note for Editors An FAQ Document as well as Application Forms are also attached and are available on the Department Website.

http://www.agriculture.gov.ie/farmingsectors/dairy/voluntarysupplymanagementschemeforthedairysector/

Date Released: 02 September 2016