Strikes may hit Irish case for higher quotas
“Effective control of volumes” is one of the main demands of farmers, who held back milk for nearly two weeks, until agreeing to enter talks with processors and retailers.
They demanded a baseline price increase from 35 cents to 43c per litre, and blamed the 2% rise in EU milk production quotas in April for a dramatic fall in milk prices.
They are likely to oppose the EU’s proposal to boost quotas 5% before scrapping them in 2015. France and Germany oppose abolition of milk quotas; however, countries such as Italy, the Netherlands and Ireland want large annual quota increases, followed by abolition in 2015.
Federal Association of German Dairy Farmers chairman Romuald Schaber praised the “unprecedented” united stance shown by European milk producers, and thanked consumers who supported the strike.
But he warned that without progress towards better prices, farmers will resume the strike.
In Germany, 13 dairies were blockaded, with almost 90% of milk supplies disrupted. Nine dairies were blockaded in the Netherlands, and many supermarkets ran out of fresh milk in Luxembourg as more farmers joined the protests.
French farmers blockaded dairies in the west of the country, which supply milk to Germany, and some Austrian dairies reported loss of up to half of their milk deliveries as more farmers joined the protest.
Dairy farmers in Switzerland also went on strike.
