Dairy farmers supplying Arla will see another reduction to their milk price next month.
The European farmers’ co-operative, which buys milk from around on in four UK dairy farmers, will cut its milk price by 1.18p to 23.81p a litre from July 6.
The dairy giant, which produces Lurpak, Anchor and Cravendale, said the latest milk price cut was a result of a European-wide reduction of 1 eurocent (0.77p) per kilo to its price as well as a a change to the average exchange rate being applied to its pricing.
The exchange rate variation results in a 0.41p cut resulting in a total price cut of 1.18p.
The firm has also confirmed that its direct suppliers – those who have opted not to become a member of the co-operative – will have their price cut by 1p a litre on August 1.
Arla’s head of milk and member services in the UK, Ash Amirahmadi, said: “Commodity markets are continuing their downward trend, despite only a minor reduction in prices in the latest Global Dairy Trade auction.
“While we have taken significant mitigating actions, the impact has been felt on our traded business and more recently on European markets which are also in decline.
“Unfortunately, these factors are affecting the entire dairy industry and despite our efforts it has not possible to buck the trend. I can confirm that our customers in the UK are supporting us at this very difficult time for our members.”
Last week, troubled UK dairy farmers’ co-operative First Milk said its farmer suppliers will have their price cut by 1p a litre on Wednesday July 1.
The price cut will result in farmers supplying the Glasgow-headquartered firm receiving between 14 and 16.5p per litre for their milk.
The co-op’s chairman Sir Jim Paice, who previously served as Defra farm minister at the peak of the last milk price crash in 2012, also announced his intention to leave the role.
First Milk has been at the centre of the current dairy downturn – in January it was forced to delay payments to farmers after revealing it was suffering from cash-flow problems. It also asked members to increase their capital payments into the co-operative to keep it afloat.
In January the Press and Journal launched a campaign to help struggling dairy farmers. The campaign, which has been backed by local producers, calls on members of the public to buy more British and Scottish dairy produce.