Superlevy in Europe

As previously reported (see /livestock/milk-production-and-butterfat/)  the UK was under its national milk quota by a record amount in 2012/13 (-13.8%).  The bad weather and poor milk prices depressed production.  But the EU Commission has reported that five countries have exceeded their quota for the year; Austria (3.6%), Cyprus (0.8%), Denmark (0.4%), Germany (0.4%) and Poland (0.2%) and will have to pay superlevy.  This is the first time Poland has exceeded its quota, all the other countries were above their national allocations last year apart from Denmark who were just below (0.2%).

With quotas ending on 31^st March 2015 it is interesting to see who is gearing up production.  It is widely recognised Ireland is preparing itself, although poor weather this year has meant it hasn’t gone over its quota (-3%) where as in 2011/12 it was over by 1.1%.  Estonia and Latvia, although still under quota (-6.5% and -3.6% respectively), are moving in the right direction as investment in these countries continue.  The Netherlands and Italy continue to hover around their national quota levels, both at -0.4% for the last quota year.

Meanwhile EU Farm Commisioner Dacian Ciolos has announced plans to establish a ‘market observatory’ to monitor the levels of milk production once quotas have ended in 2015.  The aim is to provide monthly or quarterly information to Member States.  The plans are only in their infancy at present.