Milk farmers sour as quota end brings price crash

AFP, RENNES: A surge in milk production since the EU lifted milk quotas has skimmed profits for dairy farmers, leaving them sour as authorities struggle to get to grips with the crisis.
Last year the European Union finally got rid of its three-decade old milk production quotas that it had imposed to eliminate the milk lakes and butter mountains that had plagued the bloc's farmers in the 1980s.
While farmers in several EU countries had been looking forward to tapping into rising demand for dairy products in developing countries, particularly in China, that growth slowed and there was soon a glut on the world market.
"Europe's responsibility is overwhelming in the surge" in milk available on the global market, said Christophe Perrot, an economist at the Livestock Institute in Paris.
"Since 2013, the EU has supplied an extra 10 million tonnes on a market of 66 million tonnes," he said at a recent farmers conference in the western French city of Rennes.
This has led to a slump in prices -- by a fifth to a third -- that has hammered farmers across the globe.
In France all farmers are now selling milk at a price lower than their costs. Meanwhile in New Zealand, the world's top exporter, 80 percent of farmers are selling at a loss according to the central bank.
In March, the European Commission, the executive of the 28-nation bloc, allowed member states to temporarily cut production on a voluntary basis as an emergency exception to rules guaranteeing economic competition.
But milk production has continued to climb.
The issue is likely to dominate a meeting of EU agricultural ministers on Monday and Tuesday, but EU leaders are only expected to heap pressure on the Commission, the bloc's executive body, to step up its efforts.
According to a draft seen by AFP, EU leaders will call on "the Commission to urgently implement all necessary support measures including, where appropriate, financial support to assist farmers..."

Milk farmers sour as quota end brings price crash

AFP, RENNES: A surge in milk production since the EU lifted milk quotas has skimmed profits for dairy farmers, leaving them sour as authorities struggle to get to grips with the crisis. Last year the European Union finally got rid of its three-decade old milk production quotas that it had imposed to eliminate the milk lakes and butter mountains that had plagued the blocs farmers in the 1980s. While farmers in several EU countries had been looking forward to tapping into rising demand for dairy products in developing countries, particularly in China, that growth slowed and there was soon a glut on the world market. Europes responsibility is overwhelming in the surge in milk available on the global market, said Christophe Perrot, an economist at the Livestock Institute in Paris. Since 2013, the EU has supplied an extra 10 million tonnes on a market of 66 million tonnes, he said at a recent farmers conference in the western French city of Rennes. This has led to a slump in prices -- by a fifth to a third -- that has hammered farmers across the globe. In France all farmers are now selling milk at a price lower than their costs. Meanwhile in New Zealand, the worlds top exporter, 80 percent of farmers are selling at a loss according to the central bank. In March, the European Commission, the executive of the 28-nation bloc, allowed member states to temporarily cut production on a voluntary basis as an emergency exception to rules guaranteeing economic competition. But milk production has continued to climb. The issue is likely to dominate a meeting of EU agricultural ministers on Monday and Tuesday, but EU leaders are only expected to heap pressure on the Commission, the blocs executive body, to step up its efforts. According to a draft seen by AFP, EU leaders will call on the Commission to urgently implement all necessary support measures including, where appropriate, financial support to assist farmers...