Four out of five dairy farmers will not participate in a cow cull scheme should it get the green light from Government.

But almost 9% of milk suppliers would exit the sector completely if the payments available under a cow reduction package were sufficiently attractive.

These were the standout findings from a recent survey of milk suppliers which was carried out by the Irish Farmers Journal this week.

Seventy-nine per cent of the 283 dairy farmers surveyed said they were not interested in participating in any future cull scheme.

The 21% of milk suppliers who said they would participate in a cow reduction programme were almost evenly split between those who would opt for a total exit and those who would prefer a partial cut in cow numbers.

Fifty-four per cent of those willing to participate in a cow cull scheme, or 11% of all respondents, said they would go for a partial cull of their herd.

Meanwhile, the remaining 46% – or 9% of all those surveyed – would opt for a complete herd cull and full exit.

A consultation document from a Department of Agriculture working group was forwarded to stakeholders at the Food Vision dairy group last week setting out the broad parameters of a possible cull scheme.

However, less than a quarter of the dairy farmers surveyed this week agreed that the Government was right to pursue a cow reduction programme in order to meet the State’s climate change targets.

In fact, 77% of the dairy farmer respondents disagreed with the concept of a dairy cow cull.

Under the original recommendations from the Food Vision dairy group, farmers who commit to taking cows out for three lactations could be paid up to €2,910 per cow for income foregone.

But almost three-quarters of the respondents to the Irish Farmers Journal survey maintained that this level of compensation was not sufficient.

Just 26% of those surveyed said they would be happy with this level of compensation for reducing cow numbers or exiting dairying completely.

Interestingly, four-fifths of respondents said the cow cull should be available to the suckler herd. In contrast, 20% of those surveyed did not agree that any cull scheme should be extended into beef.

Milk suppliers were less enthusiastic about extending compensation to dairy and beef processors.

Asked if dairies and meat factories should be compensated in the event that the cull cow scheme hit processor throughput, just 31% of those surveyed said ‘yes’, with 69% replying ‘no’.