Manufacturers of finished dairy products will increase prices by 2.5 - 5% already by January 1, 2021, depending on the product category.

“Despite the good price for raw milk, the profitability of milk production in October 2020 is the lowest in the last 5 years. There are a number of factors. Including abnormal weather conditions this year: snowless winter, dry cold spring and drought in August, when corn was poured - the main fodder crop for cattle. Accordingly, now farms are suffering losses due to low yields and lack of feed, which, in turn, are expensive and of insufficient quality, ”Anna Lavrenyuk, vice president of the Association of Milk Producers, told Agroreview.

The country also continues to reduce the number of cows, and the prices of feed ingredients are growing.

“Due to the fact that farms have not been able to procure a sufficient amount of roughage, a significant part of farms will have to cull for productivity and reduce the number of livestock or even go out of business. Throughout 2020, we are already losing from 1,000 to 1,500 cows every month, ”added the Vice President of the Association.

According to her, the situation is aggravated by insufficient state support for animal husbandry. The state promised assistance to the agricultural industry back in 2017, but never provided it. We are talking about 1% of the agricultural GDP, which is 7-8 billion UAH annually for the development of the agricultural complex.

Moreover, after the first reading of the draft budget for 2021, the Cabinet of Ministers reduced the fund for supporting the agro-industrial complex from UAH 8.2 billion calculated by the Ministry of Economy and agreed by the Agrarian Committee to UAH 4.5 billion.

This approach to management will permanently consolidate Ukraine in the status of a net importer of finished dairy products. Cheese and other milk products have traditionally been growing in price from year to year, while domestic animal husbandry continues to degrade.

Source