Milk Link rumoured to be cutting price

MILK LINK is likely to be the latest milk buyer to cut its prices, according to leaks after the dairy co-op’s latest council meeting on Tuesday (June 7).

Although some sources have suggested that prices could be reduced by as much as 0.6p/litre, membership director Mark Brooking said they had yet to be finalised.

But he conceded that a reduction was on the cards and would be made through an alteration to the dairy co-op’s business/market related adjustment.

“Planned changes to flatten our production profile this year have been magnified by poor weather and we have, therefore, paid out 1p/litre more in comparison to last year.

“Even with the adjustment the majority of Milk Link members will be paid more compared with last April and May and under the old seasonality scheme.”

Mr Brooking said the business/market related adjustment had been introduced to enable the milk price to be balanced against budget on a month-by-month basis, either up or down against the variables associated with milk quality and volumes, market returns and processing costs.

But one member of the co-op said it had shot itself in the foot by introducing a system that paid only 8p/litre for some milk supplied during the spring months.

“Now we are being told that producing lower volumes has the same effect as producing too much. We are damned if we do and damned if we don’t.”