Galician milk prices frozen at Spain’s lowest level until end-November
Dairy processors have extended Galicia’s reduced farmgate milk prices through November after rejecting producers’ calls for an increase. Galicia Press reports that farms are losing up to €19 million a month compared with March revenue, despite the region supplying 42% of Spain’s milk.
Processors extend spring price cuts
Dairy processors buying milk in Galicia have maintained their current purchase prices in contracts taking effect on 1 August, extending the reductions introduced in April until the end of November. According to Galicia Press, none of the region’s main buyers raised its offer despite requests from agricultural organisations for an upward revision.
Naturleite is the only partial exception. Producer organisations said the company offered a longer contract that keeps current prices during the first months and adds two cents per litre in its final period. Other processors are repeating the terms in force since April, leaving most farms unable to recover any of the revenue lost after the spring reduction.
Farm revenue falls by up to €19 million a month
The April cut amounted to seven cents per litre. Spain’s Ministry of Agriculture data cited by Galicia Press show that Galicia’s average farmgate price fell from 52.46 cents per litre excluding VAT in March to 45.49 cents for May deliveries, the latest published figure. That was 13.5 cents below the record level reached in early 2023, when prices approached 59 cents, and the lowest price since August 2024.
Galician farms consequently received up to €19 million less per month than in March. Spread across the region’s 4,834 farms with active deliveries, the average reduction was about €3,500 per farm each month. The actual loss varied according to delivery volumes and the price cut imposed by each processor.
The figures underline Galicia’s unusual position in Spain’s dairy market. The region supplies 42% of national milk production and accounts for 56% of the country’s dairy farmers, yet receives Spain’s lowest prices. In May, Galicia’s average price was around 4.5 cents per litre below Asturias and Cantabria, three cents below Andalusia, and 2.5 cents below Castilla y León and Catalonia. Galicia also recorded the sharpest decline after the spring contract renewals.
Feed, weather and European prices raise supply concerns
Producer groups Unións Agrarias and Ulega argued during negotiations that diesel and energy costs had increased. They also pointed to armyworm damage to maize, an important source of home-grown cattle feed. Heatwaves are reducing milk yields, while a dry summer threatens a maize harvest worse than in 2025. Processors did not accept these factors as grounds for higher prices.
European market signals are moving in the opposite direction. FrieslandCampina announced an August increase of €1.25 per 100 kilograms, taking its reference to €46.21, while the European Union Milk Market Observatory published rising quotations on 23 July. Unións Agrarias also reported slowing production in countries including France, which could make it harder for processors to source inexpensive milk outside Galicia.
Farm group Agromuralla warned that continued low prices could create a shortage of raw milk and accelerate farm closures. Galicia had 16 fewer farms delivering milk in May than in the previous month. Producers’ next opportunity to renegotiate will come when the current contracts expire on 30 November. Until then, Spain’s largest milk-producing region will continue operating with the country’s lowest farmgate price.
