Milk price to edge up again from 1 May

ANOTHER slight upward lift in the milk price was announced yesterday by First Milk.

The standard per-litre price is going up by 0.25p from 1 May. This move will bring prices for producers in Bute, Arran and Kintyre back 0.15p per litre above the line for 2010 after they faced a reduction earlier this month.

The increase will also see those producers in the rest of Scotland who come under the primary haulage scheme enjoying an overall 1.05p per litre increase in 2010.

First Milk chairman Bill Mustoe said: "Despite operating in a market place where prices have been broadly static in 2010, we have been successful in generating additional returns internally through costs savings, improved efficiency and a better mix of products in the market.

"Delivering these returns has allowed us to add 8 million to our milk fund in 2010 already through moves in February and April."

He said the increase also justified the moves towards market-related pricing. This delivers more transparent prices for defined milk pools based on net market returns. "We will move the milk price up again for each of our milk pools as soon as we have further improvements in net returns," he said.

In a separate move, the procurement arm of First Milk announced it was forming a strategic alliance with Anglia Farmers, the leading agricultural supply company in the UK, which

is aimed at improving commercial benefits for the 2,800 producers supplying First Milk.

In addition to mainstream dairy requirements, Anglia will competitively source a range of products and services, including machinery, insurance, fertiliser, feed and agrochemicals.

First Milk will offering Anglia's dairy members access to products they don't have, including the cluster exchange scheme, bedding and bulk tanks.