First moves in quota poker

THEY were playing poker with milk quota prices at last week’s ICOS Dairy Conference for co-op directors and managers, in Portlaoise.

The announcement of an open-market milk quota transfer system in April, 2007 had led the ICMSA and Lakeland Dairies to predict cheque book domination of dairy farming.

But their bluff was called at the Conference by Department of Agriculture and Food Assistant Secretary General Jim Beecher.