Today the German Minister of Food and Agriculture Christian Schmidt announced a government package of over 100 million euros to help dairy farmers. Schmidt met with representatives from the dairy industry and retailers in Berlin at a "milk summit" to discuss the plight of dairy caused by a dramatic drop in the price of milk.  

Since the end of last year, when Europe scrapped its milk quota system, many dairy farmers in Germany had increased production.

But the export market failed to develop in part as slowing economic growth in large emerging countries cut demand.

But Russia, a big consumer of German cheese and as a result, prices have fallen sharply.

Led by discount chains, many German distributors have cut the retail price of milk to about 20 cents a litre, well below the 35 cents a litre dairy farmers say they need to cover costs. 

The exact size of the financial aid, which includes loans, guarantees and tax relief to help milk producers through the current crisis, has still to be finalized.

Dairy farmers also staged a protest at Berlin's Brandenburg Gate on Monday to underline worries that the livelihoods of thousands of milk producers are threatened by the sharp fall in prices.