The Minister for Agriculture, Michael Creed will convene a meeting of the Dairy Forum next week as the crisis in the sector continues to deepen.
The meeting is scheduled for next Tuesday, June 21, 2016. It will continue in a similar format as before and the agenda will reflect the need to help find solutions to current market volatility for Irish farmers while providing a forum for relevant stakeholders to exchange views on these matters.
Recent days have seen multiple dairy processors announce milk price cuts for May supplies with dairy farm incomes forecasted to fall significantly this year.
The meeting will come in advance of a key summit of European Agriculture Ministers in Brussels at the end of the month. It is anticipated further measures will be fleshed out in Europe to deal with the now global crisis.
Minister Creed said he is fully aware of the pressures on dairy farmers right now.
“I am committed to working with all players in the sector to address these issues and ensure that we have a sustainable dairy sector going forward,” he said.
As part of the programme for Government, a clear commitment was given to continue the work of the Beef Forum and Dairy Forum.
The Minister said he has been engaged in an intensive round of discussions with stakeholders since taking office with a view to listening to their views on the future strategic direction of the beef and dairy sectors.
“I will also be convening a meeting of the Beef Forum in the near future. However, I have not yet finalised a date for this meeting,” he said.
Attendees at the Dairy Forum were drawn from the farming, processing and banking sectors, with representatives from Bord Bia, Enterprise Ireland, the Environmental Protection Agency, Teagasc, Animal Health Ireland, and the Irish Cattle Breeding Federation (ICBF) also attending.