“Combine that with weak EU milk production and the good demand we’re seeing, and it should be supportive for prices.”

Commenting on the Arla price announcements, Arla Foods amba board director and farmer-owner Arthur Fearnall said: “Pricing for all EU dairy commodities, especially cheese, has continued to increase significantly in September based on low availability.”

However, the UK organic market had not yet returned to pre-Covid levels, especially in food service, he said.

Graham Wilkinson, group senior agriculture director at Arla Foods, said that cost inflation was hitting all the co-op’s farmers now in a way not seen in many years.

“While we are pleased to be able to announce an increase in our conventional farmgate price for next month, we can see that this will simply not be enough to cover the increase in longer-term costs that so many farms are now facing,” he said.

“It could pose a risk to our food supply and production in the UK unless the added costs are recovered in the market, and naturally this has our full focus in the weeks and months ahead.”