Dairy Crest Announces UK Milk Price Increase

UK - Milk processor Dairy Crest has announced a milk price increase, with farmers on a Davidstow contract getting a rise of 0.25 pence per litre.
calendar icon 6 July 2015
clock icon 2 minute read

Meanwhile, the liquid milk price for farmers supplying all or a proportion of their milk on a standard liquid contract will continue to be 23.09ppl. The organic liquid milk price also remains unchanged.

This increase is in recognition of farmers successfully achieving new standards, which were introduced earlier this year in preparation for the production of de-mineralised whey and galacto-oligosaccharide (GOS) for the global infant formula market.

In addition, Muller UK & Ireland has confirmed that suppliers will get a price cut of 1.0ppl from August 1 giving them a return of 23.15ppl.

Dairy Crest’s Mike Sheldon commented: “We are acutely aware of the challenges facing our supplying farmers. Having recently met with hundreds of our farmers across a series of regional meetings, we know that they have appreciated the period of price stability we’ve provided since March.

"We have therefore agreed to hold our Liquid milk price for a further month, extending the period of stability to 6 months. We believe this is the right decision, despite production remaining at record levels and market indicators providing downward pressure.

National Farmers Union (NFU) dairy board chairman Rob Harrison said: “It is encouraging that at last we have seen a positive move on milk prices after a series of negative cuts in recent weeks. Dairy Crest has bucked the downward trend and has shown some support for their farmers, with a small increase for the Davidstow contract, and I applaud them for that.

“Last month we saw cream income to the processor increase nine per cent. Muller has strong brands and a strong domestic market; right now dairy farmers are fighting for survival and Muller needs to provide them with a full and proper explanation for its behaviour.

“Yes, milk production is still up in the UK, but across Europe volumes are starting to ease, and estimates for European production increases for the year are up at 1.6 per cent, significantly less than last year. Global demand for dairy products is still increasing by a steady two per cent each year.”

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