THE Department of Agriculture and Food expects milk producers to act responsibly when buying milk quotas, and bear in mind that the EU’s quota system is due for review in 2008, and to be scrapped by 2014 or 2015.

MILK producers who make no deliveries in the 2006-07 year will be allowed to sell their quotas into the new open-market milk quota transfer system coming in April, 2007.

THEY were playing poker with milk quota prices at last week’s ICOS Dairy Conference for co-op directors and managers, in Portlaoise.