Macra: Existing milk quota should form basis of future supply ‘licence’

Existing milk quota held by farmers as of March 2015 should form the basis of their future “licence” to supply their co-operative, according to 10 principles to guide post-quota expansion proposed by Macra na Feirme.

In a bid to incentive succession, the tenets in the Macra na Feirme Dairy Policy suggest new entrants and recent small scale producers with less than 300,000 litres be given priority to additional milk sought by any co-ops with spare capacity, at no cost. Existing suppliers should be offered additional “license” at no cost, on a pro rata basis.

Macra president Alan Jagoe launched the dairy policy, which details the relationship between farmers and co-operatives following the abolition of the milk quota.