Milk Processors Urged to Pass On Improving Milk Prices to Farmers
GLOBAL - Tuesday's Global Dairy Trade auction saw dairy price indices rise by 1.7 per cent, the fourth auction in a row in which prices have risen.
21 September 2016
1 minute read
Prices of Skimmed Milk Powder rose by 3 per cent, but prices of Whole Milk Powder fell by 0.2 per cent. The prices rises were mainly driven by Butter Milk Powder (+7 per cent) and Anhydrous Milk Fat (+4.6 per cent).
The Welsh National Farmers Union, NFU Cymru, has said that in the light of the improved market outlook, more money should now be flowing back to farmers from processors, and that processors are clearly ‘dragging their feet’ in this respect.
NFU Cymru Milk Board Chairman, Aled Jones, said: “The gap between most producer prices and commodity prices is now quite significant. All the price indicators point towards a milk price of 25 pence per litre (ppl) if not more, yet the reality for most farmers is that milk prices are still around 20ppl.
“This all points to the conclusion that processors are very slow to respond to market improvements. When the market takes a downturn, farm-gate prices respond immediately and processors reduce their price overnight. We need to see a similar reaction when the market turns upwards and farming businesses need to see the benefit in their farm-gate prices.”
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