Muller announce cut in milk price paid to farmers

Müller UK & Ireland Group has given dairy farmers who supply the business a month’s notice that its standard farm-gate milk price from January 10, 2015 will be cut by 1.2 pence per litre.

The reduction to 25.90 ppl results from a continuing imbalance between the supply of milk from farms and demand for dairy products both in the UK and around the world.

The UK processing sector is struggling to find added value markets for the extra 1.2 billion litres of milk, equivalent to 43,000 tanker loads, likely to be produced by farms in 2014. The increase in production is unprecedented in any single year.

Martin Armstrong, Head of Group Milk Supply for Müller UK & Ireland Group said: “Muller continues to make strong progress in the UK and is investing heavily to develop demand for British milk in the dairy categories which it serves. We will continue to offer a leading farm-gate milk price and our price from January reflects this commitment.

“Returns from sales of cream and butter remain depressed due to high levels of supply at a time when demand is weak.


“We have completed a series of meetings with farmers who supply us across England, Wales and Scotland to discuss the immediate market outlook, the challenges currently faced and our strategy for growth, we will continue this direct dialogue with our 1,200 farmer members to keep them informed of progress and prospects.”

Roddy Catto, Chairman of the Müller Wiseman Milk Group which represents dairy farmers who supply Müller said: “The Board remains extremely concerned by the continuing fall in milk price and the impact on dairy farmers and acknowledges that the company has worked to minimise the milk price reduction in terms of scale and timing.

“Within the context of a global collapse in milk prices caused by high production levels and weak demand, we continue to ensure that the company fully understands the importance of doing everything possible to support MWMG members.”