site.btaLivestock Farmers Protest Low Purchase Prices for Milk

Livestock farmers from southern Bulgaria held a rally in the village of Dolna Mahala to protest the low purchase prices of milk and diary companies' refusal to buy from them. They poured water on the road - not milk, because water is more expensive than milk, the protestors said.

They warned that large-scale farm failures are imminent if the situation does not improve.

Participating in the rally were farmers from the southern regions of Plovdiv, Stara Zagora, Harmanli and Haskovo. Dolna Mahala farmer Peter Karadamyanov said that they have the support of fellow farmers from across the country as they all have the same problems.

He said that they sell their link to processors for BGN 0.50 per liter and called that rate "humiliating". "All farmers are pushed in a tight corner, we are operating at a loss," he said.

Another dairy farmer, Shaban of Harmanli, says that processors tell them that their warehouses are full to capacity. "This may be due to shrinking consumption and increased [dairy] import," he said.

Karadamyanov urged the state institutions to do something to protect livestock farmers and tighten control on dairy companies.