4 June 2008 – A week-long series of protests by around 100,000 German dairy farmers is estimated to have cost milk processing plants 50 million euros ($77 million), according to MIV, the German Dairy Industry Association.
Farmers are demanding to be paid 43 cents (67 US cents) per litre, compared with 25 to 35 at the moment, saying that the increase is needed in order to compensate for rising production costs caused by higher feed and energy prices.
Thousands of German dairy farmers have now lifted their blockades of processing plants, which hit half of the country’s 100 largest dairies, but many are still boycotting milk deliveries. Some milk processing factories have been forced to restrict production as a result.
The effects of the farmers’ protests are beginning to be felt in some German regions, where milk shortages have appeared.