EU FARM Ministers meeting in Luxembourg last night failed to agree the annual price package but sources said the deal should be concluded this morning.
The Commission is likely to withdraw its proposals for cuts of £1.1 billion in aid to cereal growers, allowing for the package, largely a roll-over of current prices, to be adopted. But Irish agriculture sources believed the Commission would also propose a formula for setting a floor price for Irish beef this autumn.
The Minister for Agriculture, Mr Yates, scheduled to have a bilateral meeting last night with the Dutch Presidency and the Agriculture Commissioner, Mr Franz Fischler, described earlier Commission proposals on the beef price floor as "a major advance" requiring further refinement.
Mr Yates is understood to be seeking agreement on a floor price at 70 per cent of the intervention price, or the right for processors to submit tender bids at over the previous week's market price.
The result would be prices of about 82p to 84p per lb instead of a safety net figure of 76p.
