quota Archives - Agricultural and Rural Convention

European Milk Board on the end of quota

April 8, 2015 ARC

After 1 April, the European milk market will have no operating safety net. For the dairy farmers in Europe this means more, worse crises and falling prices in future. Many of them will have to give up milk production completely; regions throughout Europe will be affected. As milk production will no longer be possible in many regions, consumers will have fewer possibilities in future for buying regional products. The diversity of dairy products will vanish. That is why the dairy farmers are demanding that the European politicians put in place a working crisis system enabling crises to be predicted and prevented. The “Market Responsibility Programme” (MRP) could be the solution. What can dairy farmers expect after the beginning of April? On 31 March 2015, the milk quotas that have operated for more than 30 years will come to an end – the system for the time after that evinces considerable deficiencies. It is to be assumed that dairy farmers in many EU countries will initially step up production. Demand will not be able to absorb […]

End of milk quotas: how will eastern Europe cope?

April 2, 2015 ARC

By Laetitia Nourry, Eco Ruralis intern on Food Chains Campaign 30 years after its setting up, the milk quota system is coming to its end. Europe is returning to unlimited production of milk where the benefits go to industrial farming. Another stab for the slowly disappearing peasant farmer. Milk quotas were set up in 1984 by the Common Agricultural Policy, to regulate the supply and demand and avoid prices collapse. So why lift them now? The reason is for economic. As milk consumption is increasing, especially in Asia (the demand of milk should double by 2022), the European Union definitely wants to keep its first place as milk exporter to the world. To reach this goal, one solution proposed by the EU leaders says that “farmers should be more aware of the market signal“. In other words, produce more milk, again and again, at the cheapest price. Hyper-production, exports, economic growth…but what is the price ? The end of quotas will indeed enrich big producers. Industrial farms will be able to produce milk in impressive […]