The president of the Azores Agricultural Federation (FAA), Jorge Rita, considered this Tuesday, 3rd, “regrettable” the drop in the price of milk in the region, which contradicts an audit by the Court of Auditors of the European Union.
Jorge Rita was speaking following Unicol’s decision to reduce the price of milk to producers on the Terceira and Graciosa islands by three cents, starting in February.
The president of the FAA recalled that this reduction comes after Lactogal announced, at the end of December, a reduction of three cents from January 1st.
The leader mentioned, however, that, “when there were rises in Lactogal [do preço do leite] these were always much superior to those made by Unicol”, this being an industry in the Lactogal universe.
For Jorge Rita, this price drop will “clearly have a domino effect on other industries”, a situation “regrettable given the scale of the drop”.
This happens “on two islands where Unicol is the one that pays the worst for milk in the Azores and in Portugal”, says the director, who recalls that the purchase basket of dairy products for consumers increased in January, “not making any sense of a drop in the price of milk for producers”.
In January, the European Union Court of Auditors released an audit of POSEI – Specific Options Program to address Remoteness and Insularity, in the period 2019-2023, in which it concluded that the appreciation of Azorean dairy products “was not as desired, also noting specific irregularities in support for producers”.
It is recalled that the Court recognized that European funds (up to 653 million euros per year for outermost regions) “stabilized the sector”, but insisted on “the need for a greater impact on valuation”.
“These are indications from the European Union Court of Auditors, which recognizes the work that farmers have done, taking into account our concerns and challenges”, stated Jorge Rita.
According to the president of the FAA, despite there being young people with a “great desire to enter the sector”, the industries “completely kill their entry and increasingly alienate producers who produce quality milk, which is not valued”.
He also admitted a flight of milk producers to the meat sector, which is on the rise in the market and whose demands are not the same.
Jorge Rita recalled that, in a counter-cycle, a manufacturing unit with capacity for 70 million liters of milk will open on the island of Terceira, while in São Miguel the factories “want to substantially increase their production capacity”.
“If they say there is too much milk in this situation, if they are pushing us out of the sector, how can they have a reaction from producers later”, asks the director, who recalls that 50 million liters of milk have been reduced in recent years, and another 15 million are expected “with the appetite that the meat is having”.
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