Lack of EU action big blow to farmers
Several ministers said measures proposed by the European Commission were insufficient to solve the dairy crisis, but they were unable to agree which measures would be best. Ministers and the commission rejected proposals such as increasing intervention prices or freezing milk quotas, which would be in breach of their health check decisions of October.
Commissioner Mariann Fischer Boel – who recently said the dairy market is coming back into balance and prices have stabilised– agreed to consider dairy proposals on labelling, quality or promotion.
Btu she said there were no possibility of targeted aid to help grain growers, and also rejected calls to re-introduce pig meat export refunds, saying that low grain prices could alleviate the difficulties of livestock producers, and the single farm payment have been moved forward to October 16 to help farmers.
Meanwhile, the Dutch Dairy Board said markets are gradually improving, and reported a general positive sentiment. But this was probably due more to tight supply than increasing demand, and could be short-lived, due to ample intervention supply.
New Zealand auction prices had risen 56.3% in only eight weeks, indicating buyers are concerned over low world stocks.
US milk production in August was expected to drop below 2008 levels. EU milk output from April to June exceeded 2008 levels by 1.5%, partly because of a German milk strike in 2008.
An upturn later in the year may be possible, according to the Dutch Dairy Board.
Meanwhile, the European Parliament has given the go-ahead to a commission proposal to prolong intervention periods for butter and milk powder market until February next year. Under current rules, intervention should have ceased on August 31.
MEPs extended private storage measures for cheese.
