Dairy Crest has announced the following price positions for August:
· Farmers on a Davidstow contract will receive an increase of 0.25ppl giving them a return of 26.42ppl
· The Liquid milk price for farmers supplying all or a proportion of their milk on a standard Liquid contract will continue to be 23.09ppl. The Organic Liquid milk price will also remain unchanged.
The Davidstow milk price will increase by 0.25ppl from 1 August 2015. This increase has been agreed with Dairy Crest Direct (DCD) and is in recognition of farmers successfully achieving the new Davidstow Farm Standards. These standards were introduced earlier this year in preparation for the production of de-mineralised whey and galacto-oligosaccharide (GOS) for the global infant formula market.
The Liquid milk price will continue at the current levels for a further month. This means the company has delivered six months of price stability during a very challenging market environment.
Dairy Crest’s Mike Sheldon commented:
“We are acutely aware of the challenges facing our supplying farmers. Having recently met with hundreds of our farmers across a series of regional meetings, we know that they have appreciated the period of price stability we’ve provided since March. We have therefore agreed to hold our Liquid milk price for a further month, extending the period of stability to 6 months. We believe this is the right decision, despite production remaining at record levels and market indicators providing downward pressure.
In the South West we are really proud of the quality of the milk our Davidstow farmers produce and the standards to which they farm. Being able to demonstrate this to our customers is essential for our exciting infant formula projects. The successful completion of the Davidstow Farm Standards audit programme enables us to recognise the efforts of our farmers through this positive price adjustment.”
