Milk quota trading figures a vote of confidence in plans, insists Smith
Agriculture Minister Brendan Smith said last week that this showed demand exists for milk and it was a vote of confidence in ambitions to increase milk production.
He also said it indicated that the national component he introduced in the scheme this year is successful. This allows those who sell some but not all of their quota on the market exchange to dispose of their remaining quota through a national pool, to purchasers in other co-op areas who had been unable to have their full requests satisfied.
Where necessary, this redistribution will be carried out by the Department immediately, to ensure sellers are not forced to retain some of the quota they offered for sale. Such a re-distribution will not involve a separate application process.
Mr Smith said co-ops north of a line from Dublin to Galway, including Connacht Gold, Lakeland Dairies and Town of Monaghan, had expressed concern that there could be a loss of milk from their area, but he had spoken to their senior officials and they are perfectly satisfied with the level of demand in the latest milk quota trading scheme.
The only other change in the scheme is the reduction of the maximum price at which quota is traded in the priority pool from 6c to 5c per litre.
If the exchange price for a given co-op drops below 5c, the priority pool price will be the same as the exchange price.
Processing the scheme had only just begun in the Department of Agriculture last week. Results are expected before Christmas. A second 2011-2012 exchange will be announced in early January.
