Dairy farmers in Aberdeenshire and Angus were dealt another bitter blow with news their milk buyer is cutting its milk price again on June 1.
Muller Milk and Ingredients, which is in the middle of a consultation to close the only milk processing plant in the region, has announced plans for a 0.49p a litre price cut on June 1 bringing the standard litre non-aligned price to 18.66p a litre.
The company’s agriculture director Lyndsay Chapman said: “Markets continue to be severely depressed due to the balance of supply and demand. The ongoing impact of this environment is increasingly challenging for all of us within the dairy sector.
“We recognise that any further price reduction is difficult news for our farmers but we remain committed to paying a competitive and transparent milk price. Our farmers appreciate the retailer supplementary payments paid by a number of our customers, which currently equate to over 2p a litre and cushion the impact of the current market conditions to some extent.”
In a letter to producers Ms Chapman said a decision about the future of the company’s processing plant in Tullos, Aberdeen, will be made at the end of a 45-day consultation which closes “on or around May 15”.
Closure of the plant will result in farmers having to pay a transport levy of 1.75p a litre to haul the milk to Bellshill, North Lanarkshire.
Farmers have warned this could push them out of business as they are already producing milk at a loss and cannot afford another 1.75p being taken off their milk cheque.