The main milk buyer in the north and north-east – Muller – has announced plans for another price cut for farmers.
The firm will cut its standard litre milk price by 1.35p to 20p a litre from April 1.
This follows a 1p a litre price cut on February 15.
“In the current environment where the supply of milk from farms is substantially out of line with demand there are no winners in the dairy supply chain. Market returns are depressed and milk production forecasts for April suggest the months ahead are going to be very challenging for us all,” said the company’s agriculture director, Lyndsay Chapman.
“We remain focused about the future and are investing heavily in the processing sector to innovate and add value to milk and to make our supply chain competitive. However, supply and demand is a major determinant of milk price and at the moment there is a significant imbalance which is having a severe effect on the value of farm gate milk.”
Earlier this week Glasgow-based dairy farmers’ co-operative, First Milk, announced a 0.42p a litre price cut for its Scottish producers.
The firm, which was forced to delay payments to producers last year due to cash-flow problems, said continued weak market conditions and a plentiful supply of milk were to blame for the latest price cut.