Kerry farmers concerned
They are very concerned at the volatility and low price of milk and are very much in agreement with the policies of the Milk Rights Group.
At the outset of the meeting, chairman of the NMRG, Donie Shine briefly outlined their policies, which are a minimum of 33 cent per litre for the first 40,000 gallons of milk for every dairy farmer until 2013.
In the new CAP their demand is for a tripling of the present dairy premium for the first 40,000 gallons of milk for every dairy farmer.
This type of support is necessary to ensure a viable income for family dairy farms and would be relatively inexpensive and prevent the rush of family farms into Farm Assist.
It was agreed by everyone that without the necessary supports, active family farms will eventually disappear and the demise of rural Ireland is imminent.
Sean Kelly, MEP was the guest speaker at the meeting. He stressed that it was extremely important to start now to secure satisfactory funding for the overall new CAP budget. The next step is to fight for a fair distribution of that budget.
In his speech he outlined the procedures for decision making in Brussels and said that very often Justice is beaten by Pressure.
However, he said that the demands of the NMRG had justice on its side and with proper pressure had a great chance of succeeding. These sentiments were echoed by former minister, Jimmy Dennihan and other TDs and Councillors who said that the demands were both reasonable and attainable and were necessary for the sustainability of an active rural Ireland. There was unanimous disapproval of the division of funds from the present CAP from speakers from the floor and they stressed the importance of not continuing with the status quo.
Based on the feedback from this and other meetings, it is clear that the farm organisations and politicians must work hard and urgently to secure the biggest budget possible for Ireland. Dairy farmers must have unity to get their share of this budget, because dairy farmers only represents about one sixth of the total number of Irish farmers getting CAP funds. This unity is necessary to achieve the 33 cent per gallon for the first 40,000 gallons until the new CAP.
The next meeting organised by the Milk Rights Group is taking place in the Firgrove Hotel, Mitchelstown on Monday night, April 26. Guest speaker will be Alan Kelly MEP.
