Organic Herd to pay 50p/litre by April and expand milk pool

Dairy producers supplying farmer-owned co-operative Organic Herd will receive a higher milk price of 50p/litre for a standard litre from 1 April.

Milk prices are initially due to rise by 0.5p/litre in March and then a further 0.5p/litre in April to bring them up to the 50p/litre mark.

This increase was driven by continued growth in demand for organic milk, especially from its core domestic dairy processing customers, according to the organic dairy co-operative.

See also: Omsco adds new dairy products and rebrands as Organic Herd

Sara Ogborne, director of membership and communication, said: “The April increase is in line with our commitment to returning to our members small, incremental but, crucially we believe, also sustainable improvements in their milk price.

“By delivering a sustainable price and minimising price volatility, we endeavour to enable members to grow their milk production.”

New producers

Organic Herd is now looking to expand its milk pool by encouraging existing producers to increase output and also by taking on new organic producers.

Ms Ogborne added: “We are now signing carefully selected new members to help meet increased demand for our organic milk and dairy products from both domestic and export customers.”

The co-operative, previously known as Omsco before being rebranded as Organic Herd last summer, has launched a range of branded dairy products into the retail market.

It has also been working on increasing sales of organic cheese to its existing export markets.