December price rise for First Milk members

First Milk’s farmgate milk price will increase by 1p/litre from 1 December.

This puts its manufacturing standard litre at 31.5p/litre before payment of the 0.5p/litre member premium at the end of the milk year.

Robert Craig, the co-op’s vice-chairman and farmer director, said: “While we know that this increase will not cover all that inflationary pressure for our members, it is a welcome move in the right direction.

“We will continue to work hard to mitigate increased costs and, with our customers, to recover them from the marketplace, so that we can get increased returns to our members as soon as we are able.”

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Meanwhile, Barber’s Cheesemakers has said its December price will be unchanged, following a 1p/litre increase in November, which took it to 31.89p/litre for a milkprices.com standard manufacturing litre.

For November milk price supplied at the same average constituent value as in the same month last year, suppliers will get 34.15p/litre.

All of the Barber prices quoted exclude seasonality, which is worth an additional 2.4p/litre in December.

While recognising that escalating farm costs are a disincentive to milk production, the firm said in its monthly newsletter to producers that cheese markets had at last stared to move, with cheddar markets surging in the past four weeks as stock tightened.

Barbers will hold six supplier meetings in December.