EU support scheme helps to reduce milk production

On the 16 March 2017 the European Commission reported that nearly 44 000 farmers from across the EU have applied for support from the EU for agreeing to voluntarily reduce their production of milk by nearly 852 000t in the last quarter of 2016.

Under the EU milk production reduction scheme, farmers receive 14 euro cents for every kilogramme of milk production they agree to reduce. Each Member States could decide to top up that amount with EU funds distributed as national envelopes for extra support by the European Commission in July 2016. Farmers are paid on the basis of the actual reduction in production and not the planned amount applied for, based on proof of the actual reduction provided to their national authority.

According to the final figures received by Member States for the first reduction period (October to December 2016), 43 968 milk producers reached a total production reduction of 851 700 tonnes of milk. The scheme's wide take-up and the ensuing price recovery show that it responded both to farmers' expectations and to market needs. The final figures of the second reduction period (November 2016 to January 2017) will be known at the beginning of April 2017.

• Primary Source

ESO: Background information: Measures to address the crisis in the dairy sector http://www.europeansources.info/record/measures-to-address-the-crisis-in-the-dairy-sector/

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