Milk producers warn of lower production

22-Apr-2024

LID CH

At the Assembly of Delegates of Swiss milk Producers, the focus was on the market: the tenor was that the increased costs are eating up the improved producer prices.

The target price for milk will be increased by 3 centimes to 82 centimes per kilo for A milk from July. However, the situation remains tense. "We are concerned about the cost increases on dairy farms," explained Boris Beuret, President of the Swiss Milk Producers SMP, at the delegates' meeting in Bern. It is difficult for dairy farmers to cover their costs. For Beuret, better milk prices are therefore the most important issue.

"Milk production must become more attractive again, otherwise people will be less willing to invest," warned Beuret. Lower Swiss milk production is not desirable for either processors or consumers, said Beuret, pointing out the sustainability of Swiss milk production.

"Inflation is eating into milk prices"

"Inflation is eating away at the improvement in milk prices," also emphasized Pierre-André Pittet, SMP Vice Director and responsible for economic and international affairs. The association is also very concerned that the gap between the target price and the producer price actually paid should be as small as possible. Because these are not congruent.

While the gap has steadily narrowed in recent years, it widened again last year to 3.6 centimes per kilo. According to the SMP, this corresponds to a price gap of over CHF 75 million for milk producers. Pittet believes that the reason for the larger gap in 2023 is that the target price increase at the beginning of 2023 could not be implemented everywhere on the market.

Cheese problems are causing problems for the sector

SMP Director Stephan Hagenbuch also referred to border protection. In this respect, the dairy industry is an exotic sector in view of the free trade agreement for cheese with the EU. Changes in the exchange rate therefore also had a rapid impact on the market. Swiss cheese exports have struggled recently and last year more cheese was imported than exported. And problems with cheese always have a significant impact on the milk market.

Despite the challenges, the SMP achieved a milestone at the beginning of the year: The industry standard Swissmilk Green has been implemented across the board. This is a strong sign, said President Boris Beuret.

Note: This article has been translated using a computer system without human intervention. LUMITOS offers these automatic translations to present a wider range of current news. Since this article has been translated with automatic translation, it is possible that it contains errors in vocabulary, syntax or grammar. The original article in German can be found here.

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