Scottish Dairy Farmers 'Still a Long Way from Profitabilty'

SCOTLAND, UK - Falling milk production across the UK and Europe, a slight lift in dairy commodity auction prices and firmer spot markets for milk have produced the first glimmer of good news for Scottish dairy farmers in almost two years, NFU Scotland has said.
calendar icon 23 June 2016
clock icon 2 minute read

However, the vast majority of Scotland’s 950 remaining dairy farmers are a long way from a return to profitability. That means all milk buyers must waste no time in responding to these positive price signals, and delivering price rises back to farmers.

Analysts estimate that UK production for April is down 3.5 per cent and that production across Europe is declining, with production falls in key dairying nations such as Germany and Ireland.

Global and European dairy commodity auctions have shown small but consistent improvements in recent weeks and the spot price for milk in the UK has increased by between 1p and 2p per litre.

However, the majority of Scottish dairy farmers continue to receive a milk price less than 19p per litre with many receiving less than 16p for their milk.

NFU Scotland President, Allan Bowie said: “Let’s be absolutely clear – milk prices have a huge distance to go if they are to return Scottish dairy farmers to profitability and rebuild the damage to confidence in the future for milking cows.

“In these statistics, we have the strongest indication yet that the tide is starting to turn and the UK dairy chain must waste no time in responding through milk price improvements.

“These are the toughest times in the dairy sector in living memory. If they value their supply, there must be absolutely no delay in milk companies and co-operatives passing any increased value in the chain back to producers."

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