Italien Milk Production Remains Stable
ITALY - The produced milk volume in Italy remains stable compared to previous years, whilst it is expeted that the prices will remain unchanged until March 2011, says Sara Abelini, APL (Milk Producers Association).During the second half of 2010 Italian producers obtained 37-38 Euro cents for milk that was used for fresh products. The prices for milk used for mature products have increased a little and farmers obtained an average of 40 cents. However, production costs increased by 6-7 cents per litre due to an increase of corn and soya prices. That means that the price does not cover the production costs.
Recently the Italien industry proclaimed a state of emergency for the agricultural sector. "We appealed to all institutions to organise a round table to discuss and solve the problems that pose a threat to the income of farmers," said Ms Abelini.
On January 21st, 2011 the Lombardy Region organised a convention on the future of the CAP. APL was not amongst the guests. Other organisations were, however, invited. Therefore APL organised a demonstration right in front of the office of the region and handed out flyers to farmers attending the conference informing them that Lombardy keeps on dividing the agricultural sector (by not inviting the APL organisation). Paolo De Castro chaired this conference. He underlined that he was disappointed that APL-COPAGRI were not invited. Furthermore he stressed that APL was the only organisation that, in cooperation with the European Milk Board, was doing a good job in Brussels.
TheCattleSite News Desk