Be cautious with rising milk prices
Be cautious with rising milk prices
MILK prices in Ulster continue to rise at United Dairy Farmers monthly auctions, but the trend may not persist.
The Belfast-based co-op sold 20m litres at its auction on Aug 13, averaging 19.55p/litre. This is 1.5p above Julys average, and a 6p/litre rise since May.
But dairy farmers should not be lulled into a false sense of security, warns UDF chairman Harold Hamilton.
"The increase has more todo with a significant reductionin milk supply due to a combination of wet weather, poor returns and seasonality, rather thanto any fundamental improvement in international dairymarkets."
Even so, the spot price of 19.47p/litre was 0.7p above last years August value despite a considerable drop in world dairy commodity markets.
"We are pleased to see this strengthening of prices, which will be reflected in members September milk prices," says Mr Hamilton. *