There is “no doubt” that a sizeable spike in production is evidence of Irish farmers responding to the post-quota era.
This is according to Sean O’Leary, Irish Farmers’ Association dairy committee chairman, reacting to latest official statistics showing a 14.5 per cent increase in milk production for April.
He noted the EU Commission predicts an Irish milk supply increase of four per cent.
The year on year lift for April, however, should be considered in context, he stressed.
“The April production uplift should not be over interpreted: it has been caused by a number of factors,” said Mr O’Leary.
“To minimise superlevy, some milk had been held back in the last couple of days of March 2015, which would have tipped into, and been accounted for as April supplies.
“Also, weather, and therefore production conditions in early April were exceptionally good, and it looks like our peak production period may have come forward a couple of weeks as a result. A major cooling down of temperatures in late April and May, I believe, will have slowed down the rate of production growth into May.
“Furthermore, there is strong anecdotal evidence that the rate of production growth was regionally differentiated, with some of the Southern co-ops reporting much stronger production increases than milk purchasers further North.”
Source: The Cattle Site
