Inside: Dairy Market
The remarkable milk price of DOC Kaas
Milk prices are on the rise, although some dairy farmers have more momentum than others. The milk price is sharp, especially now that the milk supply is lagging behind and cheese and butter are calculated correctly. The milk price of DOC Kaas is typical, which pays the most from scratch.
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Dairies can make good use of every liter of milk. With disappointing fat levels in the milk, producing butter is a chore and supplies are dire. Dairy farmers have traditionally been loyal to their processor. Still, there are plenty of dairy farmers today who are, at the very least, considering a switch. The Battle for the Farmer has erupted now that milk has become scarce.
Declining milk supply
In the second quarter, milk supply in the Netherlands was slightly behind last year. In July, with the start of quarter 3, that changed. In July, Dutch processors collected 1.193.352 tons of milk, a decrease of more than 2% compared to last year.
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Milk supply in the Netherlands in 2017 in relation to 2016.
In June the milk price of Bel Leerdammer took a big hit and almost €2 per 100 kilos of milk was added. This brought the price to €36,48 per 100 kilos and the cheese maker passed Cono and FrieslandCampina, among others. Also in July, Bel Leerdammer had the highest raw milk price in the Netherlands in relation to the Dutch dairy farmers milk price comparator. Milcobel has been almost proudly at the top all year, but that is a Belgian processor.
Interesting price trend
In August, DOC Kaas made a remarkable leap forward by increasing the milk price by more than €2 per 100 kilos. Bel Leerdammer has also increased over August, by €0,79 to €38,23 per 100 kilos. This with an annual supply of 800.000 kilos.
With these changes, Bel Leerdammer has to relinquish the lead to DOC Kaas. Bel Leerdammer will pay out even more for the month of August than FrieslandCampina did, although that party has already increased considerably for the month of September. The balance for August can only be finalized once Cono and Vreugdenhil have published the milk price.
DOC Kaas had to come a long way, by the way. In October, the dairy processor was in the lowest place in the milk price comparison with a street length behind. The company also paid out the least in June. In previous years, DOC Kaas was never generous with the milk price. The sudden lead in August is therefore all the more remarkable. It seems that dairy farmers have to pull out all the stops to keep dairy farmers on board.
The milk price comparison between October 2016 and September 2017.