No superlevy escape in 2007

SPECIAL concessions for dairy farmers who exceed their milk quotas at the end of the EU production year, on March 31 next, have been ruled out.

Limerick IFA chairman Michael Roche told a meeting of the county IFA executive that any exemption from the super levy for Ireland is not in the frame for the current year, and farmers heading over quota should take steps to avoid being fined next spring.

“It is clearly not a runner, because the EU has to give six months notice of any change in the system and that has not been done,” he said. Milk quotas may be increased 3% on April 1 for the following year, but that’s no use to farmers over quota the day before. At the end of September, with six months to go, production exceeded quota nationally by 0.35%, when adjusted for butterfat. The situation is expected to be worse when figures to the end of October are finalised by the Department of Agriculture, thanks to favourable milk production conditions.

Some processors are already considerably over quota for the year to date. Farmers have been targeting maximum production to take advantage of high milk prices, and processors are warning them not to risk heavy super levy fines by relying on other farmers coming in under quota.

As a result, demand for milk quota has reached fever point, with reports of farmers in some areas bidding up to 45 cent per litre.