Protests outside DMK in Germany

“Deutsche Milchkontor paid only 27 cents in June to its producers. This price destroys structures. We can not pay bills and for some dairy farmers it is now our very existence that is in question,” Ottmar Ilchmann from the Small Farmers’ Association (AbL) says, reacting to when German farmers protested outside the dairy’s office in late July. Farmers blame the dairy’s export drive for the decline in prices.
“They put excess milk at low prices on the world market and thereby secure market share. But we farmers pay the bill,” Johanna Böse-Hartje, a dairy farmer from the Bremer area, notes.
According to the protesting farmers, milk surpluses in Europe had risen steadily. Since early May more milk has been delivered in Germany every week compared to the previous year, although lucrative markets are lacking for dairy products. The oversupply of milk must be immediately reduced, the farmers say.