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At a milk summit in Berlin aimed at resolving the crisis in the dairy sector, the German agriculture minister has promised €100m in immediate loans, guarantees and tax relief.
The meeting was attended by German agriculture officials to discuss ways to help dairy farmers hit by low milk prices.
Christian Schmidt told the German newspaper Passauer Neue Presse prior to the meeting that farmers and retailers should make out such agreements among themselves, as it was “not the job of the state” to intervene in pricing policies.
He had also said he wanted to cut production to stabilise the market.
However, some representatives of the dairy industry have rejected the proposals and the minister for agriculture has been criticised for not inviting either agriculture ministers from the German states or critical farmers’ associations to the meeting.
Guidelines
The chair of the German dairy association BDM, Romuald Schaber, called on the government to provide guidelines for regulating production across Europe.
He told broadcaster BR that financial aid alone was not the solution and that regulating production has to be “coordinated at a Europe-wide level”.
In recent times, German dairy farmers have received less than 20c/litre, with 35c/litre being seen as the minimum price needed to cover the cost of production.
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