German milk producers are looking to raise awareness of the difficulties facing the dairy sector and are calling for political action to address the low price of raw milk.
“Political mismanagement has contributed to the current situation, which has seen milk prices fall across Europe. In order to safeguard the sustainability of the German – and European – milk supply, swift political action must be taken,” a spokesperson for German Federal Dairy Farmers Association (BDM) told just-food.
The spokesperson said that the BDM, together with other European dairy farmers represented by the European Milk Board (EMB), is calling for a series of short-term measures that will sure up milk prices. These include establishing European quota reserves and freezing the planned quota increase.
In the longer term, the EMB has also suggested a number of other policies that it believes will realign the relationship between supply and demand, such as the creation of a legal basis for the “amalgamation” of milk producers and the establishment of producer-financed levies.
The BDM’s comments come after six dairy farmers ended a five-day-long hunger strike, which aimed to draw public awareness to their plight and pressure German Chancellor Angela Merkel to tackle falling milk prices.
While the hunger strike has attracted widespread media coverage, the Chancellor has not bowed to demands to organise an emergency summit on dairy prices.
