Minister Michelle Gildernew MP, MLA has announced that dairy farmers are on course to receive their share of the £273million EU Dairy Fund.
The EU have allocated £26million from the £273million EU Dairy Fund for dairy farmers in Britain and here. The fund is intended to help dairy farmers who have been severely affected by changes in demand and prices over the last year.
Following consultation with the industry, Defra and the Scottish, Welsh and Stormont administrations have agreed to distribute their share of the fund by making a flat rate payment to dairy farmers of 0.2pence per litre of the milk they produced between October 2008 and September 2009. To keep administrative costs as low as possible, the qualifying threshold for payments will be 50,000 litres. The local share of the fund is expected to total in the region of £3.8million (€4.2million).
In announcing the decision Minister Gildernew said: "The EU Dairy Fund is a good boost for our dairy farmers, particularly in the current economic climate, with our allocation totalling around £3.8million. Dairy farmers make a very important contribution to both the local economy and rural areas but have suffered low prices for milk during most of last year.
"Following consultation with the industry I have agreed with their view that a flat rate payment per litre of production is the fairest way to allocate this money. My aim throughout this process has been to ensure that dairy farmers would benefit from this funding as soon as possible. We are making good progress and I understand that the Rural Payments Agency (RPA) aims to start making payment from mid-April."
The Minister added: "To facilitate this, I would urge those producers who receive a request for information from the RPA to respond promptly. This fund provides some very welcome financial assistance at a difficult time for the local dairy sector and will also help the industry to remain competitive."
The Rural Payments Agency will make the payments by the end of June.
Notes to editors:
- DARD’s consultation on distributing the EU Dairy Fund closed on 17 February 2010.
- All media queries should be directed to the DARD Press office on 028 9052 4619. Out of office hours please contact the duty press officer via pager number 07699 715 440 and your call will be returned.
