Milk: End of EU quota heightens UK farmers’ fears
I often wonder how effective the market would be without agricultural subsidies. They ended over night in New Zealand. Since the Corn Laws (post Napoleon) we have taken an interventionist approach to the production of food and drink. From 2014-2020 UK agriculture will be supported to the tune of £36 billion or so……This story tells us:
EU milk quotas have been scrapped after more than three decades of efforts to prevent overproduction.
The system, set up in 1984, is ending so EU dairy businesses can compete with international rivals in supplying fast-growing markets in Asia and Africa.
The Irish Republic, the Netherlands and Germany are all expected to increase production sharply.
But UK farmers have said it could lead to further falls in the price they receive for their milk.
The European Commission believes the changes will not bring back butter mountains and milk lakes and says China and other international markets are hungry for European farmers’ produce.
EU Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development Phil Hogan said the ending of quotas was both a challenge and an opportunity for the EU.
“It is a challenge because an entire generation of dairy farmers will have to live under completely new circumstances and volatility will surely accompany them along the road,” he said.