Scots demand ‘meaningful’ milk price rise

Retailers, milk processors and co-ops need to pass ‘meaningful’ milk price increases to farmers, according to NFU Scotland.

The union is calling for “an immediate and sustained milk price increase” as part of the current round of re-tendering for contracts.

Wholesale prices for products such as cheddar, butter, cream, and milk powder are now substantially above last year’s prices, but farmgate prices have not moved in the same way.

“The market place in the UK is clearly malfunctioning as the huge hike in wholesale prices for cream, powder, butter and cheese have failed to produce any real benefit at our farm level while in other countries around Europe milk prices are jumping,” said the union’s milk committee chairman Jimmy Mitchell.

“There is undeniably sufficient profitability in the marketplace for all retailers and milk purchasers to deliver a meaningful uplift in milk prices to farmers from July through to August and September. 

“A number of small increases are filtering through but these are offering fractions of pennies per litre when pennies are justified.”

Mr Mitchell said the union had also asked DairyCo to investigate the impact that the middle ground market – which coves local shops and garages – has on farmgate prices.

“Milk processors regularly cite the competition in the middle ground market for fresh milk as a stumbling block to better farmgate prices,” said Mr Mitchell.  

“We need to get a handle on what impact this truly has on the returns farmers receive and have asked DairyCo to look into this.

“Farmers are in the process of organising themselves for the winter ahead, planning their feed purchases and buying in fertiliser and fuel.  They need the confidence to know that the price they will be receiving in the autumn will justify that level of planning and expenditure. 

“The marketplace is in the position to deliver that confidence and milk purchasers need to get on with the job of delivering meaningful milk price uplifts immediately and continuing over the next few months.”