EU restarts export subsidies for dairy

This week the European Union restarts export subsidies for butter, cheese and milk powder to help dairy producers hurt by falling prices.

 The European Commission said it would
also buy up extra butter and skimmed milk powder on the European
market from March to keep prices up.

EU Agriculture Commissioner Mariann
Fischer Boel said the EU moves should help stabilize the dairy market
after severe price drops in recent months.

The EU stopped paying export refunds
for dairy products in June 2007 when prices soared. It says it now
needs to subsidize EU exporters to help them compete with rivals in
the rest of the world.

French and German dairy farmers have
demanded EU help for months.

Also the Hungarian dairy farmers are in
trouble. Despite of last year's HUF 100, the procurement prize is now
HUF 60-67 for farmers with contracts, but the smaller farmers get
only HUF 45 pro liter for their milks.