Meadow Foods Increase Milk Price

Meadow Foods is the first processor to announce an increase in milk price.  The company has said it will increase the price by 1ppl from 1^st July and by the same amount again on 1^st August.  Over the last month there have been signs of recovery.  Fonterra’s Global Dairy Trade (GDT) auction has seen a better trade, with commodity prices trending upwards, mainly in response to a slow-down in production both globally and in the UK.

In the UK milk production for April was 3.4% less than for the same month last year, with production falling by 0.8% from March to April at a time when it is normal to see month-on-month production rising during the spring flush.  Production is said to have peaked this year on 10^th May.  In the UK, milk production in the month of May can give a good indication of total deliveries for the whole milk year (April to March).  Forecasts from AHDB Dairy’s model shows production for 2016/17 between 11.9 billion and 12.2 billion litres; at just over 12 billion litres this would be 4% less than in 2015/16.

Similarly, reports from Europe are that production is likely to slow down in the key dairying regions for the rest of the year.