Milk blockade. German farmers ask for a price increase, flexible EU quotas and "change of the system" - June 01th, 2008
Thousands of German dairy farmers are on strike since last week. The milk is going sour, but the farmers' have had enough. The milk blockade started by the Union of the Cattle Breeders (BDM) from Germany attracted new supporters every day, outraged by the current payment system and the fixed milk deliveries. Farmers from Austria, Belgium and The Netherlands joined the protests which they considered justified.
In their attempts to obtain higher prices, farmers are supported also by the federal minister of agriculture, Mr. Horst Seehofer (CSU). He stated that "40 cents for a liter of milk is a justified amount".
Last year, small farms managed with high difficulty to cover their production costs; in 2008 this has become impossible, explained Seehofer. Consumers will be affected by this increase with 3.20 euros/month.
Farmers will not give in; they ask for a basis price of 0.43 euro/l compared to the current 0.28-0.34 euro/l, price received from the wholesalers. The problem is that retailers and supermarkets are putting enormous pressure upon the price, in order to attract their clients with the lowest price.
Even now, during protests, cows are milked. And the milk is partly thrown away. "If farmers went so far as to throw away the milk that means that probably things have gone too far" said Georg Rauch, representative of Farmers' Association in Bodensee area, where 60 other farmers joined the protests.
Apart from the increase of the milk price, farmers also want a "change of the system". German farmers protest against the milk quotas enforced by the EU and demand a normalization of the milk production according to each farmer's possibilities. If the level imposed by EU is exceeded, farmers have to pay the price difference. Farmers also demand freedom on the milk purchase market in order to be able to negotiate the prices, and to fight against the big supermarkets.
Source: Hotnews.ro, June 01th, 2008 |
