dairy farmers worry about rising production costs

Under the feet of Daniel Piegay, dairy farmer in Saint-Martin-en-Haut (Rhône), the ground. His cows don’t have much to graze this summer, and he is forced to dip into winter stocks – one of the many factors driving up the cost of producing his milk. “If I take the case of fertilizer, last year I bought it for 340 euros per ton, at the moment it is at 900 euros“, he testifies. An increase which has not been transcribed on the price of milk.

With the explosion of fuel and energy costs, the price of his ton of milk has increased by 90 euros since April. An insufficient rise in the eyes of the breeder. “We still need at least 15%, even 20% increase, so that we can continue to pay ourselves“, he claims. The breeders are also demanding that a higher proportion of the liter of milk be returned to them. This proportion is now 34%.