Dear all,
High farm gate milk prices during the March-April period does not necessarily translate into better prices to farmers in Kenya or Uganda especially the smallholder farmers practicing intensive dairy farming.
During this period, milk production is supported to some extent with expensive commercial feeds thus reducing margins per unit of measure employed. Complaints from farmers especially in Kenya inundate the print and electronic media requesting milk buyers/processors to increase farm gate milk prices.
Rains in Kenya especially in most dairying areas start from 15th-25th of March implying that milk production is constrained by lack of adequate feeds and water. Low milk volumes are the norm during this period attracting high prices. Where farmers bulk and market milk collectively, their overheads remain the same, and in turn, farmers tend to get lower milk prices except those selling milk directly to their neigbourhoods constituted by urban inhabitants.
Cheers,
Egesa Mang'eni
On 6/19/13, FAO-Dairy-Outlook <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> Dear List Members,
>
> The June edition of FAO's Food Outlook's Dairy Report is available at:
>
> http://www.fao.org/docrep/018/al999e/al999e.pdf
>
> Comments from list members are welcome ... both on the report and also
> on the perspective from your own country or region. Do international
> prices have an effect on the national market in your country? Do high
> prices mean good or bad news? Will they provide an incentive to
> increase domestic production rather than depending on imports?
>
> Looking forward to hearing from you!
>
> Michael
> ======================================
>
> Summary:
> International dairy products prices registered strong growth during
> the first four months of 2013, particularly in March and April.
> Although prices fell back in May, they remained at elevated levels,
> substantially above a year earlier. The main cause of the leap in
> prices was a steep fall-off in New Zealand's milk production. The FAO
> Dairy Price Index reached 259 points in April, close to its historic
> peak in late 2007, before dropping to 250 points in May. The absence
> of substantial growth in milk output in the principal exporting
> countries implies that supplies to the international market will be
> finely balanced until at least the latter part of 2013, indicating
> that the current elevated prices are likely to remain for some months.
>
> World milk production in 2013 is forecast to grow by 2.2 percent to
> 784 million tonnes - a similar rate to recent years. Asia and Latin
> America and the Caribbean are expected to account for most of the
> increase, with only limited growth elsewhere.
>
> World trade in dairy products is expected to expand in 2013; however,
> supply limitations are anticipated to stem growth. Consequently, trade
> is forecast to increase by 1.9 percent, compared with an average of
> 7 percent in recent years, to reach 54.7 million tonnes of milk
> equivalent. Asia will remain the main market for dairy products,
> accounting for some 54 percent of world imports, followed by Africa,
> with 16 percent.
>
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