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Dairy Industry News and Features

Our Weekly News Bulletin is available by email. To receive it please email info@ipmsltd.co.uk.

^{Note, all standard litre prices are those quoted by www.milkprices.com and are based on the following:

The liquid standard litre 4% bf, 3.3% protein, 30,000/ml Bactoscans, 200,000/ml SCC, 1 million litres a year on EODC but before seasonality, monthly profile payments, balancing, B price additions, capital retentions or annual incentive schemes. The manufacturing standard litre is to exactly the same specification with the exception of 4.2%bf and 3.4% protein.}

^{Remember this bulletin continues to be available free of charge and takes the team at Ian Potter Associates considerable time to produce. The only encouragement to keep producing it is a combination of enthusiasm, tag sales & enquiries from our readers.} ^{All views expressed in this bulletin are those of Ian Potter Associates and a shed load of dairy farmers. It is necessarily short and cannot deal with various issues that arise in any detail. As a result it must not be relied on as giving sufficient advice in any specific case. Every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of the content but neither Ian Potter Associates nor Lydia Clare personally can accept any liability for any errors or omissions. Professional advice must always be taken before any decision is reached. For our privacy policy please click here.}

21/01/20

Pattemores Dairy (Liquid) price hold until 1st of March

This maintains producer’s standard liquid litre price at 26.25ppl and based on a manufacturing standard litre at 27.12ppl.

21/01/20

0.5ppl Milk Price increase for suppliers to Meadow Foods – from 1st of February

It’s presumably pure co-incidence that at the same time as Meadows March 2019 profits were announced (see below) the company announced 0.5ppl farmgate milk price increase from 1st February. Meadow were the only large processor to drop its liquid standard litre price to 25ppl from 1st of September with an eye watering 1.75ppl drop which has lasted for 5 months and well below all other major GB milk processors farmgate milk prices.

21/01/20

32ppl for Spot Milk but now softening

Spot sales have been running at 32ppl for most of January but now appear to be softening and this week have dropped under 30ppl between 27 to 29ppl. The spot trade is very volatile but does give us a feeling of the market temperature. Supplies were reported as slightly short of demand earlier this month hence the high spot price for a couple of weeks.

21/01/20

Healthy £25.6m pre tax profit for Meadow Foods

Meadow Foods 31st March 2019 pre tax profits have weighed in at a very healthy £25.6 million which should delight its private equity group owners. On an estimated milk throughput of circa 500 million litres this profit represents a healthy 4.65ppl significantly more than a large chunk of Meadow farmer suppliers earnt.

21/01/20

DEFRA’s math’s is called into question for a second consecutive month

Defra has declared its November 2019 average farmgate milk price at 29.69ppl an increase of 0.3ppl on the October average (29.35ppl). Admittedly the months fat and protein numbers were up but this increase comes in a month when processor prices either fell or stood on. It has to be noted the 29.69ppl is not a standard litre price and with November milk quality averaging 4.

21/01/20

Sainsburys watch on as another of its suppliers wants out

It seems wherever the name Sainsburys appears and dairy together its often associated with devastating news. Now NFT a distribution firm close to our offices in Derbyshire who employ close to 2,000 people are seeking a new buyer with the help of Pricewaterhouse Coopers. NFT’s biggest customer is Sainsburys for whom NFT transport their chilled food and drink to stores across GB.

03/01/20

0.26ppl Milk Price reduction for Tesco (TSDG) producers – from 1st of February

This results in a liquid standard litre milk price of 30.93ppl (Arla) and 31.18 (Muller) for the next quarter.

03/01/20

Virtually all Milk Purchasers stand on with 2020 Milk Prices

Other than the reported Tesco (see above) and Saputo (AKA Dairy Crest) 1st February farmgate milk price reductions according to our information all milk purchasers have stood on for January and in many instances February suggesting a period of stability. The milk buyers who have recently confirmed to Ian that their price is a stand on are as follows: Belton Farm (Cheese) - hold for January and February with standard litre prices of manufacturing 27ppl & Liquid 26.

03/01/20

0.01ppl Milk Price increase for CTRG Members – from 1st of February

This takes producers standard liquid litre milk price to 29.39ppl.

03/01/20

General Market Update/Snippets

According to AHDB Dairy’s bean counters the 2019/20 GB Milk year is on target for a 29 year production high at 12.58 Billion Litres despite the dairy herd having reduced by 1.75 million head (-2.4%) During 2019 UK imports of Irish Cheddar were set to break a 20 year plus record mainly due to processors stock piling against a no deal Brexit. During the nine month period January 2019 to September 2019 imports were up a staggering 24% to almost 90,000 tonnes.

03/01/20

612 Producers in England & Wales left in 12 months

England & Wales Producer numbers in 2019 fell by 612 from 9169 to 8557.

03/01/20

LAND / FARM WANTED IN HAMPSHIRE OR THE ISLE OF WIGHT

We have been asked to post this advert by a couple with rollover money who intend to buy land in Hampshire or the Isle Of Wight. They would consider a complete farm or parcels of land subject to a minimum 20acres. Please contact ianpotter@ipaquotas.co.uk with any details. An intensive unit would not be ruled out with less than 20 acres.