The UK is still languishing near the bottom of the European milk price league table; the latest results reveal the UK is seventh from bottom, having risen from rock bottom in July, when UK farmers were paid on average 4 pence per litre lower than their counterparts in other European states.

For September, the average price for the EU27 was 31.28ppl, 1.2 per cent up on the previous month and 6.6 per cent up on the year, however, although they have caught up somewhat, UK farmers are still faring comparatively poorly.image expired

UK dairy body DairyCo puts the average UK farmgate price for September at 28.03ppl, 4.54ppl below average. This places the UK second lowest in the EU15, after Spain, and seventh from bottom in the EU27.

Commenting on the findings that the UK, one of the EU’s top five milk producers, is 14 per cent behind the average price, NFU Dairy Board chair Mansell Raymond said, “prices remain below the value of milk according to key UK market indicators for Milk for Cheese Equivalent and Actual Milk Price Equivalent.

“There is some good news. Some farmer confidence has been built over the past six months resulting from recent price rises and a strong reported demand for dairy products, in domestic and global markets. This has given farmers cause to look to the future. Prices are starting to move in the right direction but there is still some way to go to deliver the profits farmers need in order to invest.”

The NFU has renewed calls for a supermarket adjudicator to be instated, as it fears supermarkets have begun passing the costs of their price wars onto farmers, who, faced with rising input costs, can ill afford to share the burden. Tesco began the price war in September with an initiative, cutting the costs of staples including dairy products and fresh produce.

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