July 26, 2007

British dairy farmers call for milk farmgate prices hike to cover high feed costs

A group of dairy farmers in the UK are pushing for an increase in farmgate prices in the wake of high production costs.

The Royal Association of British Dairy Farmers said hikes in feed costs should be immediately included in milk prices.

Vice-chairman David Cotton said they are expecting feed wheat to reach 120GBP (US$246.17) per tonne, up fifty percent since April this year. He said UK has not benefited in the rise in world dairy prices and British dairy farmers have absorbed production cost increases.

Cotton said added floods and wet weather have ruined crops which will have major consequences on future feed costs and may escalate the situation further.

On top of this, he said, many dairy farms have had to house cows and are already using winter feed stocks, so more additional costs are coming into force, hence farmers cannot be expected to live off what might happen in the future.

Cotton stressed farm-gate milk prices must reflect production cost changes far more instantaneously and processors as well as retailers need to recognise "that if they wish to secure the future of all dairy products, they will have to pay more for the milk."