Unrest spreads among dairy farmers

European dairy farmers once again took their protest against the EU’s milk policy right to Brussels’ doorstep yesterday. They are demanding that the European Commission overhauls its regulation of the dairy market.

Producers from eight countries, including non EU member Switzerland, have now joined the protest amounting to over 90,000 farmers either halting or reducing milk deliveries.

They are calling for a cost-covering milk price and a restriction on milk volumes using quotas. But the Commission says “keeping quotas is not an option.”

Germany and France are leading the push to resolve the dispute. France’s agriculture minister is pushing for an early meeting of all 27 EU farm ministers to persuade the European Commission to take action.

With the unrest spreading, support for an all out strike of dairy farmers is growing. Italian farmers have halted deliveries to industry and announced a blockade of routes through the Alps despite Brussels allowing temporary aid to farmers being squeezed out of the market.

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tags: Agriculture, Europe