The uneasy truce between continental dairy farmers and European legislators in Brussels looks like being short-lived.
For while there has been plenty of discussion in Brussels today (Monday) about ways of sorting out the crisis in the dairy sector in the medium term, no ground has been given on some of the key demands of Europe's protesting farmers.
No moves have been made to cut quotas, no increases agreed in intervention prices and no new subsidies for dairy products to be used in animal feed or pastry.
Instead, the EU Commission said it was poised to launch a new High Level Group to look at "medium term issues affecting the dairy sector". Mariann Fischer Boel also confirmed she would soon be tabling formal proposals to boost state aids and tweak the rules on milk quotas.
But none of these are likely to satisfy the European Milk Board and a fresh wave of milk from the back of continental muck spreaders is to be expected by the end of the week...
This is unfortunate because much of what the EU Commission has been doing to underpin markets is now working. As Mrs Fischer Boel told today's emergency council, recent improvements in dairy commodity prices are "not just flickers of light in the darkness, but clear, significant increases almost across the board".
Recent figures from DairyCo in the UK point to a 30% increase in the butter price between August and September, a 42% increase in the cream price and a 7% increase in the skimmed milk powder price. Similar rise have been posted in other member states as production of these products has declined.
The crux of the matter now is not what policymakers decide in Brussels, but how quickly milk buyers at home and abroad pass on the benefits of stronger markets to their suppliers. The evidence so far suggests there could be much dragging of feet.
NFU dairy board chairman Gwyn Jones is therefore right to ask "Where's the money?" As he points out, Wisemans has been the only dairy to pass back any of the 80% rise in cream values so far this year.
With the Actual Milk Price Equivalent up 3.8p/litre to 23p/litre in just the last month and with cheese values also improving, farmers will be rightly demanding an immediate and sustained increase in their milk cheques this autumn.
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