site.btaBulgaria Among EU Countries with Lowest Raw Milk Farmgate Price, Breeders at Loss

Bulgaria is among the EU countries with lowest raw milk farmgate price in June 2023, according to European Commission data, as cited by the Bulgarian Farmers Union (BFU). In June, the average farmgate milk price in Bulgaria was EUR 0.4115 per litre (approximately BGN 0.80). In June, EU raw milk prices were lowest in Latvia (EUR 0.3397 per litre) and Lithuania (EUR 0.3457 per litre). Bulgaria has the seventh lowest raw milk farmgate price in the EU, following also Estonia, Sweden, Ireland and Romania.

The average EU farmgate price of raw milk fell by 2.5% in June, compared to May, when the price stood at EUR 0.4486 per litre). Milk price in the EU has fallen by more than 20% since the start of 2023.

BFU Chairman Georgi Stoyanov said that farmgate price of raw milk is extremely low across Bulgaria (some BGN 0.50 to 0.60 per litre) and breeders are losing money. "Dairy processors continue to buy the production at very low prices, while milk continues to be significantly more expensive in supermarkets – BGN 3 or 4 per litre," Stoyanov explained.

In his words, the Agriculture and Food Ministry and the Commission for Protection of Competition should make inspections of the market because "the [market] speculation is at the expense of dairy farmers and consumers".

"If the situation with raw milk farmgate prices does not improve, small farms face bankruptcy," Georgi Stoyanov warned. According to him, some milk re-sellers and processors refuse to buy raw milk even at such negligible prices because their warehouses are already full.