Lisbon, Aug. 4, 2026 (Lusa) - Dairy farmers protested on Tuesday against the latest cut in the price paid to producers and are demanding that it be restored as early as September, warning that farmers may abandon the industry at a time when production costs are rising.
«These cuts will lead to older farmers leaving the industry and will discourage young people who were planning to invest and set up in milk production,» reads a statement released today by the Portuguese Milk Producers' Association (Aprolep).
The association warns that these new cuts to the price paid to producers «are taking place during a critical period of wildfires, which are becoming increasingly severe due to the abandonment of land and fields around villages», emphasising that «cultivated fields feed the country and protect its people».
According to Aprolep, the cooperatives affiliated with Lactogal announced at the end of July a further reduction of 1.5 euro-cents per litre paid to producers, effective from 1 August, across the entire mainland.
Meanwhile, on the island of São Miguel in the Azores, «Prolacto and Insulac have already responded with reductions of two and 1.5 euro-cents per litre, justifying the cut by citing the situation in national and international markets».
Pointing out that this reduction «comes at a time when production costs for fuel and animal feed are rising and a reduction in silage maize production is expected due to heatwaves», Aprolep predicts that there will be «less feed for the animals and [that it] will probably be the most expensive ever, due to fertilisers and, above all, the greater need for irrigation where water is available, and the lower production expected due to a lack of water or the inability to irrigate in the face of the heatwave».
It argues that these cuts «are unfair because the price paid to dairy farmers in Portugal has never kept pace with the rises seen in Northern Europe or even right next door, in Spain», and also because the aid the government provided to farmers in Portugal «was several times lower than the aid that Spanish farmers», their main competitors, received due to the war in Iran and the closure of the Strait of Hormuz.
In this context, the association «calls on other buyers to maintain the price paid to farmers for milk and challenges those who have cut prices to restore them next September».
Arguing that there should be a focus on the production of cheeses, yoghurts and other dairy products «capable of replacing imported products, which account for a deficit of €400 million» Aprolep also calls on industries and cooperatives «to share the profits by offering producers a better price», so that they «can cover production costs and make the necessary investments for the future of milk production».
Finally, the association renews its call for the consumption of domestic milk and dairy products, emphasising that they are «products of recognised quality, closer to home, fresher and better for Portugal's economy».
PD/ADB // ADB.
Lusa
