Farmers are in line to be hit with another blow with the price of milk and butter set for huge increases. Following last week’s energy price rise amid the cost of living crisis, industry bosses are concerned that the increasing costs for feed, fertiliser and fuel will soon drive up the price of dairy products.
Dairy farmers held crisis talks in Brussels last week over the increasing costs and supply chain disruption. Mail Online reports that, according to the UK’s leading adviser to dairy farmers, Kite Consulting, milk prices could rise as much as 50 per cent and butter up by 30%.
It is believed the war in Ukraine has also impacted the soaring increases, with four pints of milk set to rise from around £1.15 to around £1.60-£1.70 and butter climbing from £1.55 to £2. Experts say cheese prices could inflate by 20 per cent from £8 per kilogram to £10/kg due to milk being a big part of the manufacturing process, while yoghurts could also be affected.
Michael Oakes, the dairy board chair of the National Farmers’ Union, told the Daily Telegraph: “I was paying about £7,000 for an artic [articulated lorry] load of fertiliser, and this year it’s £28,000. It would have been a little bit less before Ukraine happened, but it made another big jump because we’d already seen higher gas prices, which have implications for fertiliser costs.”
This comes on the back of the British Egg Industry Council (BEIC) saying their could be egg shortages within “a matter of weeks” due increasing production costs. With farmers said to be losing money with every egg because of rising feed costs, adding 25p to 30p per dozen, it is thought that between 10 and 15 per cent of farmers could leave the industry due to the unprecedented costs.
