DairyCo

UK price at the bottom of EU league table

Published 18 July 11

The UK average farmgate price stood at 26.34ppl in May, the highest May price on record and 2.7ppl (11.4%) higher than at the same time last year. However, latest figures from DG-Agri show that for the first time, UK farmers received the lowest milk price of all 27 EU member states in April. As can be seen by clicking here, countries like Romania, Slovenia or Lithuania, which are usually paying the lowest price in Europe, have overtaken the UK in April. The weighted EU-27 average farmgate price stood at 30.03ppl in April, 3.77ppl (14%) higher than the UK one. In Germany, France and the Netherlands, farmers received on average 31.07ppl, 27.94ppl and 32.73ppl respectively. In April last year, the gap between the UK price and the EU-27 price was lower at 1.82ppl and the UK ranked at the 23rd place.

Historically, UK farmers have received a lower milk price than the majority of their counterparts in the EU-15. Other European countries have been better at passing on rising commodity prices. This raises questions as to how the UK dairy supply chains works, the competitiveness of processing in the UK and the product mix for dairy.