Milk quota crisis to ease
A hefty super levy bill for over production of milk is inevitable, but there's the promise of more easily available quota for the years ahead.
While milk producers brace themselves for a collective multi-million euro bill for the quota year ending next Wednesday, March 31, an exodus of farmers from milk production is set to ease the problem for the future.
Livestock sale centres confirm that the number of dairy herds being sold out has reached an all time record, as an unprecedented number of farmers opt to retire or change their farming system.
Several livestock marts have confirmed that they cannot accommodate the number of dairy herd sales which are being booked in for this spring as a record number of dairy farmers decide to call it a day.
"We are completely booked out and cannot take any more sales of dairy herds for the coming weeks, it has never been so busy", said a representative for one of the large livestock marts.
Many more had similar news for farmers trying to book in herd sales for April.
With the changeover to Single Farm Payments from January 1, 2005, major changes are being planned by farmers.
Many dairy farmers are deciding to cease production and sell their milk quota in the 2004/05 production year, before de-coupling kicks in on April 1, 2005, after which the value of milk quota is expected to drop substantially.
The exodus of dairy farmers shows that many are not tempted by the benefit of retaining the milk quota to March 31, 2005 to benefit from a premium (paid on milk quota held at that time) which is payable for the following 10 years, without the necessity to produce milk.
The expected outcome is a plentiful supply of milk quota on the market through the co-ops' restructuring schemes after April 1 next and, going forward, fewer farmers in dairying, with those remaining availing of the opportunity to scale up.
Many of the farmers selling out are aged over 60 years.
They do not have family members helping them working on the farm, and they have decided to give up the seven day week dairying work load, by retiring from farming or changing their system.
Latest dairy farm sales: see property reports on pages 8, 9 and 19.
