This week's Fonterra Global Dairy Trade auction showed a fall of 0.9 per cent across all products.
This was the first fall in international milk prices for at least two months.
However, whole milk powder, the main product traded, saw an increase of 2.8 per cent.
Farmgate milk prices
At the end of September, Fonterra announced a drop in their farmgate milk price for the 2012/13 season. Chairman Sir Henry van der Heyden said that an oversupply of milk had contributed to the lower price.
The results of the latest Global Dairy Trade auction have led Irish producers to push retailers and processors for a milk price lift, to make up the gap, which has developed.
"The extreme cost/price squeeze compounded by the appalling summer weather, which dairy farmers have faced this year, means that they need more than anything the most rapid possible increase in milk price to return anywhere near profitability," Irish Farmers' Association National Dairy Committee Chairman Kevin Kiersey said.
The UK's voluntary code of practice between processors and producers was given the go-ahead this week. The code hopes to ensure fairer contracts for dairy farmers.
The code includes 30 days notice of change to prices or other contractual terms, encouragement of producer groups, support or options to increase production.
Protecting producers
In the EU, the "Milk Package" became fully applicable this week. The package provides for written contracts between milk producers and processors and for the possibility to negotiate contract terms collectively via producer organisations. It also sets out new specific EU rules for inter-branch organisations, allowing actors in the dairy supply chain to dialogue and carry out certain activities.
It is hoped these measures will boost the position of dairy farmers in the supply chain.
US dairy producers lost a safety net last Sunday as the 2008 Farm Bill expired without a new Farm Bill being passed.
The Milk Income Loss Contract (MILC) programme compensated dairy producers when domestic milk prices fell below a specified level.
As Congress will not return until mid-November, because of the elections, many industry organisations are pushing for Congress to pass the new Farm Bill in the lame-duck session prior final adjournment in December.
TheDairySite App is now available on your iPhone.
Get the latest international dairy news, in-depth feature articles,
event details and more delivered direct to your mobile device.
Subclinical Ketosis is Talking Point at World Congress
Hundreds of cattle vets from around the world gathered in Lisbon this June to hear the latest research on cattle disease at the World Buiatrics Congress. While fertility, parasite control and disease management were understandably major topics at the event, it was a metabolic disease that had all the delegates sitting up and taking notice, writes Susan McKay, Companion Consultancy.
Completeness of the Disease Recording Systems for Dairy Cows in Scandinavia
Disease-recording systems in Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden are designed to ensure that the data for veterinary-visited cases is complete but researchers there found that is not the case for clinical mastitis in Nordic countries, leading them to conclude that the number of clinical mastitis cases in dairy cows is underestimated.
Meat and the Environment - Future Directions
The need for sustainable food production from animals is paramount to future resiliency and viability of the agri-food sector in many parts of the world, Karin Wittenberg from the National Centre for Livestock and the Environment at the University of Manitoba told the International Congress of Meat Science and Technology in Montreal, Canada.
Veterinary Students Invited to Apply for the 2013 Pfizer Animal Health Scholarship Programme
US - For the fourth consecutive year, Pfizer Animal Health and the American Veterinary Medical Foundation (AVMF) invite second- and third-year students of veterinary medicine to apply for the Pfizer Animal Health Scholarship. In an effort to help alleviate some of the burden of student debt, a minimum of 330 scholarships of $2,000 each will be awarded to assist students across various disciplines in veterinary medicine.