John Perry
Question:188 Mr. Perry asked the Minister for Agriculture and Food if additional suckler cow quota will be granted under category D to a person (details supplied) in County Sligo; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26837/03]
Written Answers. - Grant Payments.
The person named applied for an allocation of suckler cow quota from the 2004 suckler cow national reserve under category D and he satisfied all the conditions attaching to this category.
However, applicants under the categories A, first time applicants in 2004, category B, farmers with holdings on off shore islands, and category C, organic farmers registered with the Department, all have priority over category D applicants and this has resulted in only a relatively small amount of quota being available for category D applicants.
In deciding how this limited quota should be allocated, the quota review group recommended, and I accepted their recommendation, that the quota should be allocated to applicants with the lowest number of livestock units first, and then to continue to allocate, increasing the reference livestock unit by one, until all the quota was distributed.
Livestock units are calculated with reference to the number of animals applied on under the suckler cow premium scheme 2003, ewe premium scheme 2003, special beef premium scheme 2002. The milk quota, off-farm income, every €270 = one livestock unit, and any acreage used to produce cereal crops are also converted to livestock units.
Using this criteria, all the available quota for category D applicants will be distributed to those applicants who have 18 or less livestock units. As the livestock units in respect of the person named are calculated at 27.2, I regret to say that there is insufficient quota available to allow an allocation to be made to him.
He may of course consider buying or leasing quota in 2004 – the trading period runs from 2 January 2004 to 30 June 2004. As 2004 will be the final year during which suckler cow quotas will operate, it is expected that the trading value of quotas will not be as high in 2004 as in previous years.