News that Muller will hold its milk price in February will be music to dairy farmers’ ears.
The dairy giant, which is the main milk buyer in the north and north-east, confirmed it would hold its current milk price of 25.9p a litre for February.
The move makes the dairy one of the higher paying processors in today’s dairy market.
Only last week, UK dairy farmers’ co-operative First Milk announced it would slash its milk price on February 1.
Producers on liquid contracts face a 1.6p cut to 20.1p a litre, while those on manufacturing contracts face a 2.43p cut to 20.47p a litre.
Muller said it was operating in an “extremely challenging environment” but working hard to add value to the milk produced by British dairy farmers.
“We recognise that this is a tough time for dairy farmers and we are doing everything we can to maintain a leading milk price, whilst retaining our ability to compete particularly against processors and farmer-owned co-operatives who reduce their milk prices with little notice,” said Muller Wiseman Dairies managing director Carl Ravenhall.
“We are acting to ensure that our own processing and distribution operations are as efficient as possible and we are placing substantial focus on further developing a diverse range of dairy products for domestic and international markets.”
However, he said the dairy was unable to rule out further price cuts “to reflect the poor returns from cream and butter products and the need for us to remain competitive in a UK and international context”.
“We share industry concerns about the short-term outlook for farmgate milk prices and look forward to seeing signs of improvement in the current imbalance between supply and demand,” added Mr Ravenhall.