Milk Crisis Still Hurting German Farms

GERMANY – Any economic recovery from the milk crisis looks distant, according to national farm accounts data.
calendar icon 22 November 2013
clock icon 1 minute read

This is bad news for producers struggling with ‘markedly’ lower income when compared to 1991, according to an Office of Rural Sociology and Agriculture (ORSA).

ORSA statisticians have found incomes are pressuring farms in debt repayments.

Using data from the EU Farm Accountancy Data Network, market analysts showed how 90 cow farms in Rhineland-Palatinate lost €12,000 worth of income between 2002 and 2009.

In Schleswig-Holstein income showed a marginal lift from €110,000 to €119,000.

This means a real margin of €64,000 and €84,000 remains respectively before cost of living and wage reductions.

The milk crisis was responsible for the income drop, with annual falls in 2009 and 2009 of 15 to 50 per cent.

ORSA’s Dr Karin Jurgens said larger farms are in the worst position economically.

“The consequences of the milk crisis are persisting to this day”, she said. “On the larger farms, liabilties per kilo of milk currently averaging 30 to over 50 cents/kg are not only almost double those on smaller farms, they are not coming down despite the clear increase in the volume of milk produced.”

Peter Guhl of MEG Milch Board said the results ‘exceeded our fears’ and must instigate an industry response to allow farmers to benefit from milk’s market value.

TheCattleSite News Desk

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