Farmers have one last chance to apply for dairy equipment funding
The chairman of the ICMSA’s farm services and environment committee, Patrick Rohan, has called on local Department of Agriculture offices to issue confirmation immediately to the successful applicants.
Mr Rohan said the scheme is an excellent opportunity for farmers to get grant aid for milking machines and milk storage equipment.
“The most recent tranche closed on May 31 with a total of 548 applicants amounting to a grant value of €6.1m,” he said. “But the most recent tranches have been under-subscribed. Therefore, funding is available for all eligible applicants. The crucial point here is for the local department offices to inform successful applicants immediately and without delay to allow farmers to plan for work to be carried out over the winter months to ensure parlours are up and running again for the spring period.”
Mr Rohan urged dairy farmers wishing to upgrade facilities to consider applying for the scheme before tomorrow’s deadline.
Meanwhile, ICMSA deputy president Pat McCormack has also warned dairy farmers that they need to remain vigilant to avoid incurring a superlevy fine.
He welcomed the Department of Agriculture&’s official milk quota position at the end of Jul 2013 was that Ireland is 1.44% under-quota.
However, Mr McCormack added that while the country is still under-quota, the gap continued to close during July and farmers need to be vigilant given that a superlevy fine remains a risk for the current quota year.
The statistics indicate a firm trend: At the end of May, the position was 4.64% under-quota, by the end of June that had fallen to 2.6% and now the July figure continues that trend.
Mr McCormack said: “While some parts of the country were officially in a drought situation during July and some farms had silage being fed, the perfect weather conditions experienced in the first half of August are significant and the prospect of a superlevy is becoming a distinct possibility that could pose very serious difficulties for those individual farmers substantially over-quota.
“The situation will vary depending on which co-op the farmer is supplying and it’s essential that suppliers who may be exposed consult on an ongoing basis with their processor and take every opportunity to increase quota coverage — including temporary leasing.”
The department’s national estimate of 1.44% under quota takes into account butterfat content of milk deliveries during the period to the end of July. Estimated butterfat adjusted deliveries in July were 653,221,857 litres.
This compares to the published position in Jul 2012 where Ireland was 0.56% under-quota when account was taken of the butterfat content of milk deliveries. Butterfat adjusted deliveries as submitted to the department by milk purchasers in the period Jul 2012 were 605,398,839 litres.
