Due to a stomach viral infection, Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development Phil Hogan will not be able to attend the crucial Farm Council meeting in Brussels on Monday 7 September. Jyrki Katainen, EU Commission Vice President for Jobs, Growth, Investment and Competitiveness will be presenting the package of proposals in his stead.

The meeting, announced at the end of July, was called to address falling farm incomes in the dairy, grain and livestock sectors, and will be attended by all EU agriculture ministers.

According to Brussels sources, a dairy support package worth €300m is expected to be unveiled at the important meeting.

The €300m is understood to be funded by the 2014/2015 dairy superlevy fines – estimated at around €840m.

Other measures expected to be proposed at the emergency meeting include an extension of the Private Storage Aid (PSA) period for butter and SMP beyond 29 February 2016 and targeted action for the pigmeat sector, one of the worst affected sectors since the Russian ban was imposed in August 2014.

Member States are also expected to get the green light to pay out 70% of direct support before the 1 December deadline to ease cashflow pressure, rather than the usual 50%, as reported in the Irish Farmers Journal this week.

Earlier this week the Luxembourg presidency outlined a number of suggestions for the Commissioner to consider at Monday's meeting. Some of these are addressed by the expected support package, including the return of part of the superlevy fund to the dairy sector, the advancement of direct payments and extension of the PSA period for dairy products.

Meeting with Coveney

After the meeting between Minister for Agriculture Simon Coveney and Hogan last week, the package will also be expected to address Ireland's demands, which include temporarily increasing the intervention price, which is currently the equivalent of 21.7c/l of milk, restoring PSA for cheese and pigmeat, and the use of exceptional measures to promote the consumption of dairy and pigmeat products on EU and third country markets.

Protest

Meanwhile, estimates of the number of protesters who will descend on Brussels during Monday's meeting have risen from 2,000 to almost 4,000, alongside an estimated 1,000 tractors. The protest is organised by European farmers organisation COPA-COGECA, with the majority of protesters expected to come from France and Germany.

After its starter protest on Monday, 31 August, the Irish Farmers Association full council will be present at next week's demonstration.