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The wholesale price of Jersey Dairy milk will rise by 15p per litre today in response to increased costs of production and the increasingly volatile global market.
Jersey Dairy, which is served by 13 farms providing 14m litres of milk a year, said it had made the decision to raise the price of wholesale milk in a bid to secure the future sustainability of the dairy industry.
This increase is the fourth in a row, with Jersey Dairy last raising their wholesale milk price by 8p in February 2022.
The Russian invasion of Ukraine, Brexit, and Chinese covid lockdowns have all had their impact on the cost of production for Jersey dairy farms, with farmers suffering from increasing costs of fuel, imported feed, fertiliser and wages.
Jersey Dairy says it has also been subjected to significant inflationary cost increases on raw materials, packaging, fuel and energy, with inflation on the island reaching 10.4% as of September 2022.
Pictured: rising costs of fuel, imported, feed, fertiliser and wages have all impacted the rise in wholesale milk price.
A recent independent review of the profitability of Jersey dairy farms indicated that if island dairy farmers are to have a sustainable commercial future, the wholesale price of milk needs to increase, as it has done elsewhere. In the UK, the average price paid to dairy farmers has increased by 54% over the last year.
Eamon Fenlon, Managing Director of Jersey Dairy, commented: “All of the income raised from this price increase will be passed back to our dairy farmers, however, this will be insufficient to address in full the farm profitability issue that has been identified, and hence price increases will also be implemented in our export markets.
"Government are also exploring how they can play their part in addressing the situation.”
Pictured: Eamon Fenlon, Managing Director of Jersey Dairy, said that the current prince rise will not be sufficient to address the farm profitability issue.
Phil Le Maistre, Dairy farmer and Chair of the Jersey Milk Marketing Board, commented: “It is essential that Jersey Dairy implements this price increase now if we want our dairy farms to have a sustainable commercial future.
"Enabling them to ensure the future of our iconic Jersey cow in her Island home, continuing their environmental stewardship of our beautiful countryside, along with the significant contribution they make to local food security with the wide range of nutritious products produced from the milk they supply to Jersey Dairy.”
FOCUS: "How would people react if there weren't any cows?"
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