Icmsa meet minister coveney on dairy situation
Speaking following a meeting with the Minister for Agriculture, Food & Marine, Simon Coveney, the President of ICMSA, John Comer said, that ICMSA had raised the two key issues facing dairy farmers at this time, namely, milk price and superlevy and highlighted the need for immediate action to maintain farmer confidence at a critical time with quota abolition only a few short months away.
Mr Comer said that in relation to milk price, 2015 will be a test of processors but also national and EU policymakers to back up their conviction that they will support farm families during difficult periods. Farmers clearly expect that in 2015 that Co-ops will step up to the mark and support milk price and also that farmers will see a clear dividend from the investments at processor level that have taken place over the last number of years in the form of a premium milk price compared to a commodity milk price.
As well as processors, the EU Commission has a clear responsibility to support milk price during periods of market weakness which we have at the present time. ICMSA, Mr Comer said, believes that the Minister needs to convince his fellow Farm Ministers to increase the intervention price for butter and skim milk powder to a realistic level that will at least cover the cost of milk production and the strategic use of APS and export refunds should also be utilised in order to immediately stabilise the situation.
In relation to superlevy, Mr Comer said, that ICMSA had clearly set out the serious problems facing Irish dairy farmers and again urged the Minister to continue to lobby for a butterfat adjustment and other mechanisms to help farmers despite the strong opposition at EU level. It is quite clear that farmers particularly small and medium sized herds who traditionally would have avoided superlevy due to the availability of flexi-milk are very likely to suffer a serious superlevy fine this year and this is an issue that all in the sector need to address in the interests of the long term future of the industry, concluded Mr Comer.