Several major UK dairy processors have raised what they pay farmers again as supply and demand come into better balance, but recovering milk output may limit further gains, Farmers Weekly reports.
Arla will pay 1.76p a litre more for October milk, taking its standard litre (4% butterfat, 3.3% protein) to 39.17p, its fourth monthly rise in a row and almost 5p a litre in total. Muller is adding 0.5p for November, to 37.5p a litre, its third increase and 3p since August. First Milk is holding its November price at 39p after raising it by 6.15p for September and October, and Barbers Cheesemakers is holding at 40.11p after three rises.
Michael Masters of Barbers pointed to the milk surplus in continental Europe: Germany, the EU's largest producer and almost twice the size of the UK, has been running about 5% above last year throughout 2026.
British output is picking up with autumn grass growth and calving. Deliveries reached 33.02 million litres a day in the week ending 19 September, up 1.5% on the week, though still 3.7% below a year earlier, according to AHDB. Its lead dairy analyst Susie Stannard said the country was still short of milk and that bluetongue could limit supply.
UK wholesale prices rose in September: butter by 3% to 3,540 pounds a tonne, skimmed milk powder by 11% to 2,730 pounds and mild cheddar by 9% to 3,330 pounds. Stannard credited demand for protein, with cottage cheese and Greek yoghurt selling strongly, and noted the US now exports about 17% of its milk, undercutting world prices. "I don't think we should expect to see milk prices coming up to what they were," she said.
Photo: Angela Marie / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.0)
Source: Farmers Weekly
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