The flare-up of food raw materials did not spare milk producers: + 50% the price of corn, + 80% that of soy. The increases, for farmers, have exceeded on average 30%, recalled Confagricoltura Piacenza. And the tug-of-war with the processing industry resumed on time. Under pressure from Coldiretti, the national table on the price of milk has already been convened at the Ministry of Agriculture for September 30th. The post-pandemic version of the clash, however, has brought something new: now the farmers’ associations are not satisfied with the national table, but have also opened the front of the regional tables.
Apulia was leading the way, but the next one to arrive – not surprisingly on September 28, that is two days before the national one – is that of Lombardy and will be a heavy table, given that the largest share is produced here. large of Italian milk.
Loading…
“The situation regarding the price of farm-gate milk has become unsustainable with farmers under pressure from too low prices,” wrote the president of Coldiretti, Ettore Prandini, in a letter to the Minister of Agriculture, Stefano Patuanelli. Producing now costs 4-5 cents more per liter, on the other hand the price of milk has dropped compared to 2020. Italy for farmers is two-speed: “50% of production – explains Prandini – gives milk to great cheeses PDO and they are fine, because they receive 45 cents per liter in the case of Grana Padano and 75 in that of Parmigiano. Then there is a share of breeders who have contracts with companies that have indexed prices to market trends, and pay better. All the others, and numerically I am referring to half of the producers, earn only 36 cents per liter, which is less than the production costs ».
Assolatte, which brings together processing industrialists, disagrees: “The surge in production costs – they say – is worrying but it affects the entire supply chain: companies pay more for energy, aluminum, pallets , plastic and paper for packaging. Large-scale distribution is also under pressure: the big chains have raised the issue of inflation and it is understandable, but it is no longer possible for the increase in costs to be shared only upstream ». Now, in short, it is also up to the consumer.
Today in Puglia the regional milk table meets again. After having received from the Antitrust the negative opinion on the possibility of defining a minimum milk price between the parties, the Councilor for Agriculture, Donato Pentassuglia, and the local agricultural associations intend to try again: they want to put the parties’ commitment on paper to arrive at a fair price but without writing a precise price, which in previous meetings had been identified as at least 44 cents per liter, taking into account the production costs according to Ismea’s calculations. The Region will grant concessions on loans to those who sign this commitment.