Applicants to 2011 Dairy Efficiency Programme receive payments

APPLICANTS for the 2011 Dairy Efficiency Programme have begunto receive payments, according to the Department for Agriculture, Food and the Marine.

Agriculture Minister Simon Coveney said that farmer participation in the scheme could help deliver 50% increase in national milk production projected in the Food Harvest 2020 report. More than 6,000 farmers qualified for payments of €975 each last year, the first year of the scheme.

Mr Coveney noted: “It is remarkable to see that since the introduction of the programme, numbers participating on discussion groups has more than doubled. Research has shown that participation in discussion groups has a real and tangible benefit for farmers, with Teagasc measuring this as equivalent to an increase of between one and two cent per litre.”