Quota confiscations total £1.7m

NON-PRODUCING milk quota holders lost out on about £1.7m last year after the Rural Payments Agency confiscated 9.6m litres of quota.

Despite much publicity over impending confiscation of quota from farmers who did not produce milk in the 2003/04 quota year, 199 people failed to restart production or sell their quota before the March 31 deadline.

But this figure was considerably below expectations, said Ian Potter of broker Ian Potter Associates.

“It is unbelievable that the litreage confiscated is 1.3m litres less than that confiscated the previous year, and credit must be attributed to the RPA which wrote to all NPQH‘s warning them they risked confiscation,” he said.

“Anybody who has had quota confiscated has either engineered it (to avoid paying their landlord‘s share of any sale proceeds) or been completely asleep.”

Farmers who wish to go back into production can apply to have their quota reinstated before Mar 31, 2006.