Coveney: Talks to change butter fat levels and avoid superlevy difficult

Agriculture Minister Simon Coveney has pushed his EU colleagues for changes in butter fat levels to avoid the superlevy the country’s farmers expect to face later this year but says we are quickly facing new challenges from other EU states.

While Mr Coveney said he had the support of a number of countries, including Britain, Germany, Luxembourg and Denmark, other countries had different concerns, making for a difficult debate.

Farmers have 14 months to go until the quota system for dairy products is abolished and the aim is to increase Irish milk production by 50% over the next five years, answering a huge demand globally.