This article is from page 51 of the 2007-11-20 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 51 JPG
YOUNG Clare farmers must be giv- en priority treatment if an increase in the quota is announced next year.
That is according to Catherine Buckley, Macra na Feirme’s national president, who said last week that should the EU Commission decide to increase quotas on a once-off basis in 2008 then the increased percent- age must be targeted at new entrants and young farmers in order to benefit the industry.
Buckley said that a small once-off increase in EU milk quota would leave Irish farmers worse off over the longer term relative to getting no increase in quota as outlined in the FAPRI Ireland Partnership analysis
of quota expansion.
The leader of the young farmers’ organisation pointed out that an in- significant increase in quota for all dairy farmers across the board would not benefit the industry.
“Instead, 1f we are to attract young people into the industry, we need to provide young farmers with milk quo- ta access. We have a poor age profile with only eight per cent of our farm- ers under the age of 35,” she said.
“The targeting of increased quota to new and recent entrants is vital in order to allow those farmers who are the future of the dairy industry to rapidly expand their businesses in the years ahead and to prepare for an environment without milk quotas,” she said.
“Dairy farming is a very labour- intensive and tying occupation and young people must see the prospect of proper rewards for their time if they are to commit themselves to the sector.”
Buckley said additional quota tar- geted at new entrants and young farmers would be purely ‘a license to produce’, rather than an asset, and the quota should be allocated nation- ally and completely separately from the milk quota exchange.
Meanwhile, Alltech and Macra na Ferime have, for the second year in succession, joined forces to run a na- tional silage competition in order to encourage the highest standards of silage making amongst young farm- ae
Over 400 samples have now been taken across 20 regions in the coun- try and the national final of the com- petition, followed by an awards cere- mony will take place on December 3 in Alltech’s European headquarters in Dunboyne, County Meath.
The overall national competition winner will enjoy an educational trip for two people to the United States in 2008 to visit a chosen farm enterprise, and 26 county winners and runners-up will each receive an Alltech product vouchers valued at €200, €100 and €50.
On the day there will also be a farm walk and an information seminar. For more information, contact John Graham in Macra national office on Ol 4268910.