Struggling dairy farmers have marked World Milk Day (Wednesday 1 June) with a series of protests across Europe over low prices.
Organiser the European Milk Board (EMB), which represents about 100,000 milk producers, said the dramatic consequences of the milk crisis warranted further protest action.
In a statement, the EMB said: “June 1 – World Milk Day – comes at a time when the waves of extremely low milk prices are threatening to drag thousands of European farmers into poverty.”
Following the lifting of quotas, an oversupply of milk, weaker-than-expected Chinese demand and Russia’s ban on western food and drink imports have all been blamed for the slump in dairy.
Over the past two years, farm-gate milk prices have collapsed by nearly 50% in some EU member states. In the UK, hundreds of dairy farmers are producing milk below the cost of production.
To raise awareness of the plight of dairy farmers, the EMB organised protests across Europe.
On 30 May, Dutch dairy farmers blocked a bus with EU agriculture ministers visiting a farm in the Netherlands, as part of the informal council meeting. Dairy farmers also dumped hundreds of rubber boots outside a milk summit in Berlin as a symbol for farms going out of business.
Milk spraying and tipping actions were planned across Germany, while in France milk producers staged protests outside dairies.
On a more positive note, Dairy UK chief executive Judith Bryans spoke of the growing global demand for milk at the International Dairy Federation’s celebration of World Milk Day in South Korea. “Dairy makes a difference to millions of people every day, everywhere,” she said. “It plays an important nutritional role at all stages of life. It also provides millions of livelihoods across the world.”