The derogation cut could be a major hit to family dairy farms, second only to the imposition of quotas, the ICMSA has warned.

Irish Creamery Milk Suppliers’ Association (ICMSA) president Pat McCormack has said that the derogation cut could be the second-biggest challenge facing dairy farmers over his association’s entire 70-year history.

McCormack stated that the drop in maximum derogation stocking rates comes as the biggest hit to dairy farm families since the introduction of EU milk quotas in 1984.

The move comes after ICMSA analysis pointed to a €2bn collective cut to milk cheques this year when compared with 2022 prices for milk delivered to co-ops.

“We are in existence 70 years and we had the imposition of milk quotas and this is next-biggest challenge over that 70-year period,” the ICMSA president told the Irish Farmers Journal.

“There is in excess of 3,500 farmers caught up in this and affected by this above 220 [kg N/ha limit] and the vast majority of them are dairy farmers.”

Family farms

The blow represents a “further infringement of a farmer’s ability to earn an income from the family farm model”, according to McCormack.

“We saw in January 2023 cow banding become a huge issue that has affected farmers this year. Now, we see the move to 220 [kg N/ha] affecting many of the same farmers in 2024,” he said.

“The ability to put kids through college, the ability to make loan repayments and the ability to put food on the table [are] all undermined by this move on derogation.

“And we made that very, very clear to the Minister and his team of Department officials – the challenge has never been greater for the family farm model, given that there has been €2bn wiped off the value of milk sales in 2023 versus 2022.”