Dairy farmers’ offspring ‘driven from the industry’ as quotas end

MANY European dairy farmers believe their sons and daughters will be driven out of the industry by downward price pressure when the quota era ends in 2015.

Members of the European Milk Board (EMB) at an ICMSA-hosted seminar in Dublin called for EU Commission backing for a central monitoring agency that would give producers a fairer share of the retail milk price. The representatives from 14 European states also said they want protection against cheaper non-EU milk imports.

Swiss EMB representative Martin Haab said dairy farmers in Switzerland have been severely hit by their Government’s decision to exit the quota regime in May 2009. The plan was originally unveiled in 2002, with promises of a soft landing, with supports for the 2003-2006 transition period.