England loses milk quota

ENGLAND HAS lost 215m litres of milk quota to the “Celtic regions” of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland over the last year, according to the Rural Payments Agency.

Although that represents less than one English litre in 45, it has boosted Welsh holdings by 4.1% and Scottish by over 9.2%.

Dairy farmers in the three regions are expecting to receive around 12p/litre from a new dairy premium designed to compensate for CAP price cuts.

But English farmers will get just 6p/litre, spurring a brisk trade which peaked in early February when prices for leased 4% quota had troughed at 5.5p/litre.

“When Beckett came out with proposals for the dairy premium last year, the first thing many of us said was this wouldn‘t create a level playing field,” said Tony Carver, head of milk quota at property consultants Carver Knowles.

The volume of quota had not been high, especially recently, as buyers held back, he added.