But it remained to be seen how much United Kingdom producers would benefit from the measures, with farm leaders calling for clarification on exactly how the aid would be made available.
In financial terms, the package comprised £125m for dairy farmers who voluntarily reduced milk production across the EU and £290m split into so-called “national envelopes” for milk and other livestock producers.
Of the £290m, the UK would receive just over £25m – the third-largest share of any EU country – with individual member states able to top up the amount by 100% if they chose.
That was less than the £26.2m that was allocated to the UK last September, which paid out an average £1800 a producer.
In addition, Brussels gave the go-ahead for 70% of 2016 direct payments to be made from October 16, rather than the usual date of December 1.
But Britain’s Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs refused to take advantage of a similar measure last year and was likely to do so again this year.
That would put English producers at a disadvantage to producers in Northern Ireland, which had already said it would make 70% part-payments from October 16.
In another bid to support the dairy industry, public intervention for skimmed milk powder (SMP) was extended until the end of February 2017, when the standard period resumed.
“The European Commission is trying to solve a long-term problem with a short-term intervention.”
Jim Nicholson
MEP
However, the ceiling up to which SMP was bought in at a fixed price stayed at 350,000t until the end of December 2016.
Farm commissioner Phil Hogan announced the package at a meeting of European agriculture ministers.
The latest package meant Brussels had now mobilised more than €1 billion (£835m) in new money to support hard-pressed farmers since last September, Hogan said.
While welcoming the package, the National Farmers Union called for flexibility from both Brussels and Defra on how the money should be distributed.
Defra minister George Eustice favoured more emphasis on measures that increased demand, rather than those that curtailed supply.
NFU dairy board chairman Michael Oakes said in terms of a voluntary management scheme, UK milk producers had already reacted to market conditions by reducing output significantly.
Daily deliveries for the past two weeks of June were 9% lower than the corresponding period last year.
“This is without financial incentive,” Oakes said.
Ulster Unionist MEP Jim Nicholson said if some member states co-funded aid measures but others did not, there would immediately be an imbalance between producers in different countries.
“The European Commission is trying to solve a long-term problem with a short-term intervention,” he said.
The first aid package did little to help dairy farmers on the brink of bankruptcy so they would have little faith that the second package would make much difference either, he added.
Milk shortage fears emerge
Milk processors in Britain are actively recruiting new suppliers amid fears of an imminent under-supply problem.
With the latest Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board dairy figures showing daily United Kingdom milk production down by 4.4% on the three-year average, National Farmers Union dairy board chairman Michael Oakes said processors were getting worried.
“We have been in an over-supply situation but already some of the major processors are going out to recruit suppliers.
“They are getting worried about where they are going to get their milk from,” he told dairy farmers attending a Royal Welsh Show seminar on future opportunities for the milk industry.
But Oakes warned farmers to be cautious.
“We need to be asking who has treated us fairly during this crisis and who we want to be doing business with.”
UK Farmers Weekly
