ICMSA call on minister to support EU dairy at Farm Council meeting

Six EU member states have circulated a document in support of the dairy sector

The ICMSA has called for minister Heydon to send a strong signal at this week’s meeting that they recognise the difficulties in the dairy sector and that they intend to introduce measures that will support the primary producer and give them a choice where the market cannot deliver a sustainable price. File picture

The minister of agriculture has been urged to support the call of other member states to support the dairy sector at this week's EU Farm Council.

Irish Creamery Milk Suppliers Association (ICMSA) president, Denis Drennan, has urged minister Heydon to support the call of Belgium and five other member states to “examine without delay the activation of a temporary and voluntary European programme to reduce milk production” similar to the voluntary reduction scheme so successfully introduced in 2016.

Expressing surprise and disappointment that Ireland is not currently listed as supporting the circulated document, Mr Drennan said that this week's EU Farm Council meeting presents the minister with an opportunity to back this proposal and assist in beginning the process of bringing EU dairy market prices back to realistic and viable levels.

While acknowledging that markets have improved since the start of the year, Mr Drennan said the collapse in milk price was still disastrous, having fallen from a base of around 50cpl 2025 to below 33 cpl today.

“Farmers have not seen any milk price increase in 2026 and seasonality bonuses will be gone for March milk onwards. Irish dairy farmers have been receiving a price that’s considerably below the cost of production for months — and this was the case well before the Iranian crisis.

"In the wake of the outbreak of hostilities, the situation has got even worse with fuel prices and fertiliser prices having now risen to unsustainable levels and putting farmers in a destructive and impossible costs-income ‘squeeze’,” he said.

ICMSA were happy to note that six member states were pushing for the proposal, and that the meeting provided minister Heydon with the opportunity of “putting his shoulder to the wheel” to support the proposal in an effort to restore some stability to the dairy sector.

“The Voluntary Reduction Scheme has been criticised by some but it’s very notable that these critics have no alternative proposal other than for dairy farmers to take the full hit of the broken marketplace — while their own positions and incomes are fully insulated. 

"That’s not a sustainable position; if you don’t like the idea of a voluntary reduction scheme then you are at least obliged to come forward with another viable policy”, said Mr Drennan.

Concluding, Mr Drennan said the EU Farm Council and the minister should send a strong signal at this week’s meeting that they recognise the difficulties in the dairy sector and that they intend to introduce measures that will support the primary producer and give them a choice where the market cannot deliver a sustainable price.