Dairy Crest holds October farmgate milk price

Dairy Crest suppliers on Davidstow, standard liquid and organic standard liquid contracts will see no change in their farmgate milk price for October for the time being.

The October price announcement sees the standard liquid milk contract stay at 21.69p/litre and the Davidstow cheese contract at 25.35p/litre, based on a 4% and 3.3% industry standard litre, said producer group Dairy Crest Direct (DCD).

However, recent retailer announcements on extra money to be paid to processors and passed back to farmers mean additional money will be put into the October price.

See also: Approval edges closer for Dairy Crest Dairies sale to Muller

DCD said in its newsletter to its farmer members that the activity surrounding the recent retail announcements had delayed the conclusion of October pricing beyond the usual month notice date that it aimed to provide.

How long it will take for the extra retailer cash to filter through to processor accounts and then to farmer accounts is unclear.

In the case of Dairy Crest suppliers, it will be paid to those on standard liquid contracts (not formula or specialist milk pools) and will be detailed as supplementary p/litre payment on farmer milk statements.

“We are not yet in a position to confirm what this means for our farmers on non-aligned liquid contracts,” said Mike Sheldon, managing director of Dairy Crest’s Dairies business.

“However, we have clearly committed to DCD that all money we receive from our customers to support farmers will be used to supplement the milk price we pay.

“Support payments can only be paid when they have been received from the retailer customers involved.”