FRUGA says contract renewals have cut milk prices by about €0.09 as production costs rise in Galicia. It wants an urgent meeting of the Mesa de la Leche and production costs factored into new contracts.
FRUGA links higher production costs mainly to rising fuel prices and pricier farm services. Charges for forage collection and field work, it says, are squeezing farms’ net margins.
According to the organisation, contract renewals have cut milk prices by around €0.09, reducing dairy farms’ income. Producers had expected an increase to ease pressure on their businesses, but most processors have left payments unchanged, with some exceptions.
FRUGA also points to the effects of drought and a reduction in forage harvests. The group says Galician farms are receiving the lowest milk prices in Spain. DairyNews Today later reported that Galicia’s average farm-gate price was €0.448 per litre in August 2026, down 11.7% year on year; Spain’s average was €0.469 per litre, down 9.7%. The report also put Castilla y León at €0.476 per litre, a 10.6% annual decline. These claims come from the organisation’s statement; the supplied material gives no breakdown of prices by processor or farm.
The wider Spanish dairy sector was also reported to have produced 3.3% more milk in August 2026 than a year earlier, while the number of dairy farmers fell by almost 500 over the year. Separately, Unións Agrarias said on 23 October 2026 that nearly 60% of Galician dairy farms produce less than 500,000 litres annually, with smaller farms’ incomes under pressure.
The dispute concerns regional intervention in the dairy sector, unlike Madrid’s birth and adoption grants, which support families. FRUGA is asking the Consellería do Medio Rural to convene the Mesa de la Leche immediately and encourage dialogue across the food chain. It also criticises the department for what it describes as inaction, including on checks on raw materials entering from other states.
