This article is from page 38 of the 2009-07-21 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 38 JPG
CLARE dairy farmers received a vital lifeline last week with the an- nouncement that EU Council of Agriculture Ministers decision to extend SMP and butter intervention into 2010.
The move was welcomed by the IFA National Dairy Committee Chairman, Richard Kennedy, who said that it was absolutely critical to preserve a longer term floor under dairy markets and that a “different approach” would need to be taken by the EU Commission in the future.
“We need support measures which will help boost demand to speed up dairy price recovery, and ultimately
lift producer prices,” he said.
“The council have now agreed to the Commission’s proposal to extend butter and SMP intervention from 31st August to 28th February 2010, so that there is now a very secure floor to dairy markets right into 2010.
“This must be welcomed, because markets bottoming out is the pre- condition to any recovery. However, the EU Commission now must go further, and put forward, in its July 22 report, measures to boost dairy demand and help lift prices.
“In my recent meeting with the EU Director for Common Market Or- ganisations for agricultural products, Mr Hermanus Vesteylen, I empha- sised just how important a more ag-
gressive export refund policy would be in promoting greater demand. “Also critical would be the reacti- vation of the casein, feed, and pas- try and ice-cream schemes which in past years have aided hundreds of thousands of tonnes of skimmed milk, skimmed milk powder and butterfat.” Meanwhile, the Minister for Agriculture, Brendan Smith, last week welcomed the Commission rec- ognition of Irish concerns in relation to the implementation of electronic identification (EID) in sheep. According to the minister, he has “pressed” the EU Commission on these issues and is glad that he has been effective in winning “signifi- cant concessions” that he says will
ease the burden on the sector in 1m- plementing EID.
These were approved by Member States at this week’s Standing Com- mittee on the Food Chain and Ani- mal Health (SCOFCAH).
Under the new regulation, all lamb intended for slaughter and under 12 months old can now be exempted from EID. Furthermore, where these lambs are subsequently retained for breeding purposes they can then be tagged with an EID device at the sec- ond holding.
The minister said that he will con- tinue to impress on the Commission and his European colleagues at the council his view that EID should proceed in a voluntary capacity.