More dairies put up price paid for milk

Both the Co-operative Group and Robert Wiseman dairies have announced price increases, with Wiseman – owned by German company Müller – raising its price to 29p per litre direct to suppliers.

Meanwhile, the Co-op is increasing its rate to 30p per litre from the start of October.

Earlier in the month Arla increased its farmgate price to 29.5ppl.

The price increases come after a torrid year for dairy farmers in which farmgate prices were slashed to rates well below the cost of production.

Farming leaders mounted an impressive protest campaign to the cuts, blockading depots and dairies around the country. Pete Nicholson, Wiseman’s milk procurement director, said: “This increase is only possible with the timely support of our customers and we are working to this end and confident that this will be secured.

“Müller is ambitious to grow and to play a major role in UK dairy. This presents real opportunities for dairy farmers who currently supply the group, and those who don’t but may be considering whether their current buyer is right for them in the long term.

“It is important to stress the simplicity and flexibility of our contract and approach. The milk price we offer is competitive but crucially it is also a ‘clean’ price which means it is not reduced by member retentions, capital levies, balancing or haulage charges.

“Whilst this has been an extremely challenging period for the dairy supply chain we believe that a platform now exists from which the industry can begin to look forward. We are confident for the future and we look forward to working with our suppliers to realise our shared aspirations.”

The Co-op’s increase is 1ppl on the August rate and follows what it called “a review of market conditions as we move into the autumn/winter period”.

Steve Murrells, chief executive, The Co-operative Food, said: “We are in continuous dialogue with our farmers and keep our payments under constant review.

“We are making this move in recognition of the increasing input costs as we approach the autumn period, in particular animal feed prices, and the poor silage crop as a result of the unprecedented wet summer weather.”

The move was welcomed by NFU president Peter Kendall, although he did warn the industry at large was still not sustainable. He said: “Most farmers are still losing money despite these increases and the price rises in the global market must work their way through as soon as possible.”

The news came in the same week that the Rural Payments Agency (RPA) revealed that wholesale milk deliveries totalled 1,062.5 million litres in August, bringing the cumulative total for the year to 5,820.8 million litres.