“It is a fundamental step, because it protects our excellence in the sector, put under pressure by increasingly narrow margins due to the increase in the costs of raw materials”. Thus Stefano Patuanelli, the minister of agricultural and forestry policies, comments on the agreement that recognizes an emergency premium that will allow for an increase of 4 cents in the milk price at the stable. An agreement that will last until March 2022 – “a result made possible by the effort of all the parties that make up the supply chain: producers, processors and distributors”, adds the minister – and which also provides for the creation of a technical table which, in addition to addressing the emergency will also deal with the structural problems of the supply chain.
“With an act of responsibility, our proposal was accepted for an increase of 4 cents in the minimum price of farm-gate milk in Italy without having an impact on consumers”, explains the president of Coldiretti, Ettore Prandini. From his point of view, “the agreement saves the 26 thousand remaining Italian dairy stalls which during the year 2021 had to undergo a significant increase in production costs with an increase in the price of raw materials and fodder”. And he adds: “It is a question of enhancing the national dairy supply chain, which expresses a value of over 16 billion euros, employs over 100,000 people and generates a positive impact in terms of income and social cohesion in the country and which, in fact, represents , the leading national agri-food sector “.
The application of the agreement, Coldiretti underlines, must be followed by an adequate public awareness campaign on the consumption of milk and derivatives and for the enhancement of a national production that exceeds 12 million tons per year. A production that in the next five years will increase by 10-15%, with an average annual rate of variation of 2-3%, probably more accentuated in the first years and which is destined to continue until 2030, only to diminish in the following decades. The forecast is contained in an extensive report on the scenarios of the sector commissioned by Alleanza Cooperative Agroalimentari which was presented today in Verona as part of the 3rd edition of the Dairy Summit. As a consequence of the greater availability of domestic raw material, imports of milk from abroad are expected to contract by 8% in volume, also considering the greater availability of domestic raw material and the drop in domestic demand.
But this is the future. The present is linked to this agreement which, according to Massimiliano Giasanti, president of Confragicoltura, will give “breath to the farms” but now “it is essential to work to enhance the Italian product, an objective that sees the agricultural part involved at the forefront and which must see all the farmers involved. actors”. For Dino Scanavino, the leader of the Italian CIA-Farmers “the agreement guarantees a fairer price for producers”. A point of view shared by Franco Verrascina, president of Copagri who recalls how in the first half of the year the production costs reached “a good 2.4 cents per liter”.
The agreement was also signed by Assolatte: «We understand the difficulties faced by farmers – said Paolo Zanetti, the president of the association of industrialists in the sector – who are also ours. We have been repeating this for some time: the increases are also dramatically affecting our companies, pressed for months by costs that until now they have absorbed in silence, but which they can no longer bear ». Price increases affecting all industrial production factors from energy (+ 18.4%) to transport, from plastic (+ 61.4%) to wood (+ 62%) to cardboard (+ 22.1%), up to freight rates (+ 214%) for exports. And the situation does not seem destined to change, at least in the short and medium term.