Vol. 421 No. 4
285 Mr. Farrelly asked the Minister for Agriculture and Food if he will outline the limit that will be on small milk suppliers who are supplying 40,000-50,000 gallons for suckler cow grants; if he will give details of the amounts the grants will be; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
Farmers who continue to supply milk commercially and who hold milk quotas of over 12,819 gallons at 1 April in any year are not eligible for EC suckler cow premia for that year. Any farmer, irrespective of the quota he holds at 1 April in any year or of the amount of milk supplied by him in that year may qualify for EC suckler cow premium provided he does not supply milk commercially for 12 months from the date of lodgment of his application and observes the other conditions of the scheme. The rate of premium for 1992 is £68.54 per cow. There is no limit on the number of cows that a non-supplier of milk may qualify for in 1992 but there is a limit of ten for a farmer who continues to supply milk commercially and who held a quota of less than 12,819 gallons at 1 April 1992.
Milk suppliers in the more severely handicapped areas and the less severely handicapped areas who have suckler cows accompanied by calves at application date and at inspection may qualify for headage grants on those cows at the rate of £84 per cow on a maximum of 40 cows in the more severely handicapped areas and at £75 per cow on a maximum of 30 cows in the less severely handicapped areas and in coastal areas with specific handicaps.
