Irish butter for Russia

Press, 14 June 1980, Page 14

Irish butter for Russia

By

Irish farmers will soon be supplying an export order of 10,000 tonnes of butter to the Soviet Union if. as is expected. tire E.E.C. Farm

SELWYN PARKER

Commission grants the necessarv licence. The Irish Dairy Board had applied for the licence at the end of last year but the commission’s decision to block

in Dublin

the controversial butter exports scuttled the order. Now, according to the Dairy Board’s chief executive, Mr 'Brian Joyce, staff will seek that the commission gives the green light after its decision to reopen normal trade dealings with Russia. The Dairy Board had an outstanding year in exports generally. It sold just under $lOOO million of dairy products, an increase in total sales of 33 per cent. However, Mr Joyce has slammed the farmers for not producing more. Citing the fact that Ireland had the lowest output per cow in Europe and the lowest stocking rate per acre. He said that milk production could be increased by at least half by the end of 1980. That could push sales to the $2OOO million mark, he said.

At present, the fastestgrowing markets are the oilrich countries like Mexico, Venezuela and Algeria. But Mr Joyce noted with some pride that in 1979 the Dairy Board added a new country to the list of 78 to which it exports — namely, Australia where Irish farmers sell an Italian-type cheese.