Industry Coordinator Hopes to Resolve Dairy Crisis
SPAIN - The price offered to producers for their milk by supermarkets and dairies has caused disharmony in recent weeks with the Galicia region (Spain's premier dairy region) seeing its farmers strike due to outrage over some of the lowest prices in Europe not reflecting high milk quality and rising costs.
28 November 2012
2 minute read
Given the critial situation, demonstrations/strikes are expected to take place all over the country. Arias Cañete (Minister of Agriculture) has been urged to have a meeting with agriculture associations, companies and distributors.
Latest official data from the Spanish Agricultural Guarantee Fund has anounced national farmgate prices of 0.26/0.30 cents per litre and production costs 0.34 and 0.37 c/l.
In the light of this economic background COAG hopes that the Minister of Agriculture, Food and Environment, Miguel Arias Cañete, can bring together retailers,dairy owners and representatives of agricultural organizations to remedy the milk market and offer a better price to the farmer.
Outraged by the behaviour of the dairies and supermarkets, the farming community is adamant that these prices must change in order to stop farms closing.
Young Farmers groups have argued that Spain is a major milk producer which does not appreciate its dairy farmers. There is a national milk deficit which is always made up with foreign imports, often from Frace and Germany where the prices are higher.
Low farmgate prices have been accompanied by rising production costs which has made dairying in Spain challenging.
According to the latest official data published by the FEGA, from January to September, the price of feed has risen more than 40 per cent, a trend that hinders the economic viability of the 22,000 dairy cattle farms that exist in our country.
You can read more about the dairy strike in Galicia clicking here.
TheCattleSite News Desk
