New direct payments for dairy farmers

DETAILS of the new direct payments to dairy farmers were announced yesterday by Agriculture and Food Minister Joe Walsh.

He said the payments would be coupled in 2004 and would be decoupled as and from 2005, the earliest possible date for doing so under EU regulations.

The level of the premium amounts to about 1.2 cent per litre (5.5 cent per gallon) in the first year, rising to around 3.6 cent per litre (16.6 cent per gallon) from 2006 onwards.