Müller Milk Group, which used to be Müller Wiseman Milk Group, will now pay £0.2135 per litre.
“Market realities” are pushing the price that Müller pays to it dairy farmers down by £0.01 in every litre.
The company, which recently completed the acquisition of Dairy Crest’s dairy operation, said that high levels of supply and falling demand for dairy commodities were to blame, adding that it could not fully protect its suppliers “from the realities of the market”.
Effective from 15 February, Müller Milk Group – formerly Müller Wiseman Milk Group – would adjust its price per litre to £0.2135, while suppliers to its Müller Direct Milk business – formerly Dairy Crest Direct – would receive the lower rate of £0.2069 per litre.
Shropshire dairy farmer Andrew Bebb, who was involved in protests against the falling price of milk last year, claimed that “a lot of businesses will go under” as a result of the move.
“We normally pray for an early spring to get the cows out, but that will only push milk volumes even higher and exacerbate the problem,” Bebb said.
“It’s unsustainable producing milk at below the cost of production long term.”
Müller Milk & Ingredients director of agriculture Lyndsay Chapman said: “Our strategy is to add value to the milk we buy from the 2,000 dairy farmers who supply us and we remain committed to offering competitive milk prices and contracts. We are very aware of the pressures on farm resulting from the depressed marketplace and have tried to provide stability by maintaining the milk price since September, despite very difficult and declining market conditions.
“However, we cannot fully protect our dairy farmer suppliers from the realities of the market which continues to be badly affected by high levels of supply and very weak commodity prices. We have therefore had to reduce the milk prices we pay to our farmers by £0.01 a litre, providing the required 30 day notice period.”
© FoodBev Media Ltd 2024