Dairy Slump Declared Over After Prices Jump

Dairy prices leapt up by nearly 13 per cent at the Global Dairy Trade auction on Tuesday, leading the Irish Farmers Association (IFA) to say that dairy's two-year price slump is "well and truly over".

The GDT price index rose by 12.7 per cent from levels seen at the previous event, reaching an average price of $2,731 (USD/MT, FAS). Whole milk powder saw the biggest price rise, of 18.9 per cent.

This follows a rise of 6.6 per cent in overall average prices at the previous event on 2 August.

IFA National Dairy Chairman Sean O’Leary commented: “The recent positive GDT results mirror the EU market price evolution, reflecting the lower global availability of milk, the utilisation of stocks, and the relatively good demand growth.” – Click here to read more.

Both the IFA and the National Farmers Union of Scotland urged processors to pass market gains onto milk suppliers as quickly as possible.

NFU Scotland Milk Committee Chairman, Graeme Kilpatrick said: “The dramatic and welcome change in dairy markets means we have an urgent need to engage with milk buyers and retailers and ensure that there is no further time lag in the upturn being reflected in farmgate prices.

“That has not been the case in the past and analysis has shown that farmgate prices are quick to fall but slow to recover.” – Read more.