Price distress signal raised

Farmers and co-ops across Europe have raised the milk price distress signal.

“Without fair prices, dairy producers in the EU will not be able to cope with this situation in the longer term”, said Michael Lambert, Chairman of the Milk and Dairy Products Working Party of the Committee of Agricultural Organisations and Co-ops in the EU, COPA-COGECA.

He called on the European Commission to prevent abusive practices by retailers, and for EU competition law to allow dairy companies (in particular, farmer co-ops) be more competitive, through expansion.

Many dairy farmers were questioning the viability of the industry, and decoupled payments would give further incentives for milk producers to leave their farms, said Mr Lambert.