Agriculture, Covid-19, Crisis, Latvia, Markets and Companies

The association informed that in March the average purchase price of fresh milk was EUR 0.307 per liter, but that by May it had dropped by 18%to EUR 0.252.

"There are no signs of stabilization in Europe and the world as yet. On the contrary, some dairy farms are unable to cope with this steep drop of the purchase price. Even if for some the milk purchase price is not falling or changing, it still is a crisis price, which does not mean that the situation is getting better," said Kaspars Melnis, CEO of the association of limited agricultural companies. 

In his words, it is hard to predict when the dairy farming segment might recover and the milk prices get back at least to the level of 2019.

Earlier, Juris Lazdins, chairman of Zemnieku Saeima (Farmers' Assembly) NGO told LETA that the situation in dairy farming, which has been the hardest hit segment of the agricultural sector, has started to improve and the milk purchase prices are rising.