Muller Wiseman slashes milk price again

Muller Wiseman has confirmed it will cut its November milk price by 1.9p/litre.

The news was leaked last week from a meeting of the business’ farmer board before the processor today announced its suppliers will be paid 27.1p/litre. The price is now 6.5p/litre lower than it was in April.

Muller’s announcement follows Dairy Crest’s 1.3p/litre cut earlier on Tuesday (30 September) and Arla’s 1.67p/litre drop last week.

The company said milk production was beating all forecasts, forcing it to sell more on the spot market, where prices were as low as 22-23p/litre.

It also pointed out that cream was down 30% and butter 27% on the year.

Muller UK and Ireland head of group milk supply Martin Armstrong said the processor still offered one of the best available prices for farmers not on supermarket-specific contracts.

“Very high levels of milk production coupled with weaker demand for dairy commodities are having a sharp impact on farmgate milk prices,” he said.

“We share the concern of dairy farmers, who are anxious to see some signs of improvement in what is a very volatile market.”

UK milk production increased 0.9% in the week ending 20 September rather than continuing the seasonal slide, latest figures from Dairy Co have revealed.

Production is running about 9.3% higher than last year and 12.1% above the three-year average.

Muller Wiseman estimates this is equivalent to an extra 825 tankers of milk every week.

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