Milk prices are under pressure worldwide

In New Zealand, the payout price is approaching NZ$8,85 per kilo of fat and protein, which is more than €40 per 100 kilos, analysts predict. Last year was also a record year for New Zealand farmers. That is no longer possible, mainly because China has canceled it. The milk price is heading towards the lowest point in two years.
The New Zealanders now have other things on their minds than the falling milk price. They must deal with the consequences of the storm.

Stagnant US demand
Things are no better in the United States. The milk price is not plummeting, but it is dropping. The all-milk price for January has been reduced to $21,60, roughly €44,50 per 100 kilos. That is not yet very low by American standards, but inflation has hit hard there too and the prospects are not encouraging. Domestic demand is stagnating and exports are also not going very well.

Closer to Europe, the picture is somewhat mixed, but nowhere are milk prices going up. In the United Kingdom, milk prices fell slightly in January and February, partly due to longer-term agreements, but from March prices will fall more sharply, with announced reductions of 5 to 7 cents per kilo. The cause is the low dairy prices. British dairy farmers also benefited less from the high prices last year than their colleagues in the Netherlands, Belgium or Germany.

French farmers missed price peak
That's the same as in France. The dairy market there appears in many respects to be an almost independent market, where milk prices for the farmer are mainly determined by price negotiations with their own retailers. As a result, French farmers also missed the price spike last year that their northern neighbors experienced. That bothers them, which is why they continue to push for stable prices for the time being. So far they seem to be getting their way better than their colleagues elsewhere in Europe. 

In Germany, prices have perhaps been reduced the most in the last month. Both DMK and Ammerland reduced their February prices by €7,00 to €52,00 per 100 kilos. Müller stayed just above that with €53,00. Private processor Rücker went further down and set the price at €48,00, to the anger of suppliers. But Rücker was soon not the only one who implemented significant cuts. Both Schwaben Milch and Frischli reduced by as much as €15,00 and also set a milk price that started with a 4.

It doesn't seem to stop there. The milk supply remains high and sales are difficult. So far, Dutch farmers are not doing so badly. The dairy industry here is still able to protect dairy farmers relatively well against prices that are too low. The question is: for how long?