Dairy processors set out milk price hikes
Two dairy processors have announced milk price rises this week with a third pledging an increase later this month.
The Co-operative Group said its farmgate price would rise to 30p/litre from 1 October after it carried out a “review of market conditions looking ahead into the autumn/winter period”.
Robert Wiseman Dairies also revealed plans to put up its farmgate price. Its increase of 2.57p/litre will be introduced from 15 October, taking the price paid to Wiseman suppliers to 29p/litre.
A spokesman for the company said it had reaffirmed plans through its Wisemilk Initiative to consider new ways of valuing farmgate milk using the proposed voluntary code of practice as a framework.
The price rise will be offered to all dairy farmers who supply the company, with the exception of those who are aligned with major customers such as Tesco, Sainsbury’s and the Co-operative Group, which have their own milk pricing arrangements.
Meanwhile, Dairy Crest said it hoped to announce higher farmgate milk prices later this month, but warned that continuing direct action threatened the progress made with its customers.
Improving milk and cream markets and a call by the company for higher prices from its customers meant that Dairy Crest was confident of delivering higher milk prices to its farmers as autumn progressed, said the company in a statement on Tuesday (11 September).
In the same statement, milk procurement director Mike Sheldon said: “The work of the Dairy Coalition has been helpful in highlighting the issues faced by all dairy farmers, but ongoing direct action puts the progress we are making at risk.”
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