Autonomy of milk vital to Ireland
The numbers of Irish farmers in liquid milk is falling every year. While special supports for the provision of winter milk was once viewed as a national priority, that support has faded considerably in recent years.
The National Milk Agency (NMA), the statutory regulatory body for the supply of milk for processing for liquid consumption in the State, says milk imports are rising annually. The IFA led a liquid milk protest earlier this year calling for an extra 8cpl from retailers for liquid milk, or risk yet more dairy farmers leaving this specialist supply area and going into manufactured milk.
