Vol. 397 No. 3
44 Mr. Sherlock asked the Minister for Agriculture and Food if, in light of the difficulties being experienced by many developmental farmers in obtaining an increase in their quotas to a commercial level, he will consider that quotas from retiring farmers should be redistributed, through the co-operatives or any other appropriate mechanism, to smaller producers seeking to increase their production and commercial viability.
Under the Community Regulations milk quotas are attached to the land used for milk production and normally can only be transferred when the land in question is also transferred by sale, lease or inheritance.
However under the restructuring scheme which I negotiated in the Council of Ministers in 1987 I have provided that producers who are ceasing milk production may sell their quota to their co-operative or dairy for re-sale to priority category producers within the same area who require additional quota. Small scale producers are the first priority under this scheme while producers who draw up development plans also benefit. Approximately 40 million gallons of quota has been re-allocated to date to the priority category producers under this scheme.
