Dairygold 2.15% over-quota after milk output surge

Dairygold Co-op went from 1.28% over-quota at the end of August to 2.15% over-quota at the end of September, due to a 10.6% surge in milk production in the month, compared to September 2012.

Meanwhile, milk-supply trends nationally, at the end of September, left Ireland 0.42% over quota — taking into account the relevant butterfat adjustment.

Agriculture Minister Simon Coveney said “while we avoided a super-levy last year, largely due to the challenging weather conditions, the country did finish the 2011/12 milk-quota year at 1.05% over-quota, and this cost the farmers who were responsible for this over-supply some €16m in super-levy payment. The surge in milk production over the recent months is a reminder of the risk that the country could incur another milk super-levy at the end of the current quota year, and this could have very serious financial consequences for affected farmers”. He urged individual milk producers to manage their quota situation until expiry of the milk-quota regime on Mar 31, 2015.