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m
The European Economic
Community (EEC) has imposed a
quota system on the dairy
producers of Western Europe.
Many of the details of the very
restrictive program were reported
in the May 25 issue of Hoard’s
Dairyman. It will pay you to hunt
up that issue and read it.
The quota system adopted in
Great Britain is based on a far
mers 1983 total production minus 9
percent. A heavy penalty is levied
on any milk produced beyond his
quota. For most farmers, it is high
enough to make any surplus very
unprofitable.
After a first hand look at some of
the European farmers reaction to
milk quotas, I am a little fearful
that we wouldn’t like it any better
than they do. I had the opportunity
to travel in England, Wales and
Scotland in September, and it is
very apparent that British farmers
are facing some tough times. They
don’t hesitate to express their
feelings publicly.
One fanner placed a billboard in
his pasture with this bit of in
formation: “Here is what Milk
Quotas have done to this herd of 67
cows-15 cows slaughtered-15
calves unborn—2 men out of
work-The bull is unhappy—and
the Bank is about to foreclose-
Dairymen in Britain are par
ticularly hard hit because they
have not been paid as well for milk
as the French, German and Dutch
farmers. The price at the farm last
year was about $9.07 per 100
pounds. With the quota in effect, he
is hit with a double whammy. Not
only is production reduced, but the
price per 100 pounds is now down to
$8.91 in American dollar
Lancaster Farming, Saturday, November 17,1984—D29
Let’s Be Careful,
It Can Happen
Here
equivalent. Inflation in Britain is
running about 5.5%, so he is also
facing increased costs.
The whole problem stems from
the fact that total milk production
in Western Europe has reached
unmanageable proportions. In
1983, the EEC had a surplus of over
42 million pounds. The trend is
much the same as we have ex
perienced here in the US, resulting
in fewer dairy farms, but higher
production per cow. Some mem
bers of the EEC allow trading in
quotas, resulting in hardship for
the smaller operators and making
it extremely hard for a young
farmer to get started.
We had better pay close at
tention to our own situation here in
the USA in the next couple of
years. While we may find some
encouragement in the reduction
brought about by the current Dairy
Program, there are a lot of heifers
waiting in the wings for the end of
the program next March.
Washington will be crawling with
ideas next year for a new Dairy
bill, unless we get our house in
order.
As much as we might dislike
restrictions on production, there is
only one alternative to help bring
supply and demand into balance.
That is to increase sales and
consumption of milk products. It is
happening to a small degree, but it
will take more initiative on our
part to increase sales.
We hope that production quotas
won’t be a part of the next Dairy
bill, but you can rest assured that
all of us must be more sensitive to
the marketing of our product. We
are competing with the rest of the
world, and may have to play the
game by some of their rules,
whether we like it or not.