Dairy farmers ‘to lose €19k each’ this year

THE average Irish dairy farmer will lose €19,000 this year as the income crisis on Irish dairy family farms intensifies, the IFA said yesterday.

The IFA National Dairy Committee held a protest at the offices of the European Commission to highlight what it described as the severity of the current income crisis on Irish dairy family farms, and the critical need for urgent action. The protest coincided with a meeting in Brussels of the EU Agriculture Council at which the EU-wide dairy crisis is to be discussed.

Chairman Richard Kennedy said: “We want the Irish Government and the European Commission to fully realise just how severe the hardship is which dairy farm families are facing at the moment.”