Milk processor Arla has announced that it will increase the price it pays to its UK members by 0.83ppl* from 30th March, bringing their standard litre price up to 25.8ppl.

The rise is the first from a major UK milk buyer since the onset of the dairy crisis last year. Arla’s UK price takes into account a new Jan-March average exchange rate being introduced to the pricing mechanism.
 
Commenting on the rise, NFU Dairy Board chair Rob Harrison said, “At last we have seen a UK milk price follow the upward motions of market indicators over recent weeks. Farmers have been seeing rising wholesale prices almost across the board with no sign yet of this feeding back to milk cheques, but we must see income returning to the farm gate quickly in order to save the industry from further devastation.”  
 
Harrison said Arla had worked to explain to its 3,000 UK members how its milk pricing system works, and welcomed the move towards greater transparency form the co-operative business.

The NFU spokesperson described the price rise as “A wake-up call to other processors,” and added, “[Processors] cannot hold on to increasing returns at a time when farmers are suffering monumental losses of income, we must see returns to the farm gate immediately.

“It is now more important than ever that trust is re-built in the dairy industry between processors, farmers and retailers. This needs to happen through transparent pricing mechanisms, quick returns to farmers’ incomes in line with the market and a fair balance of risk across the supply chain.”