Brussels, 02/03/2015 (Agence Europe) - The latest study on milk production costs in Germany, carried out by the BAL (Büro für Agrarsoziologie & Landwirtschaft), shows that, in October 2014, production costs in Germany averaged 41.62 cents/kg milk. The average milk price in the same period was, however, only 35.45 cents/kg milk - “6 cents underneath the cost of production”, highlight the European Milk Board (EMB) and the MEG Milch Board, which launched the study, on Monday 2 March.
For October 2014, the price/cost ratio calculated by the MEG Milch Board showed a cost coverage of only 85 per cent in Germany. According to EMB President Romuald Schaber, the deficit between milk prices and the cost of production has “unhealthy” consequences: “The dairy sector has little to build on. Farmers are unable to put money aside for investments and are continuously fighting for their survival”. EMB continues to call for a Market Responsibility Programme (MRP) to be put in place. This, it argues, would allow crises to be predicted and prevented. (Lionel Changeur)