Milk strike ends as farmers accept price rise
Switzerland's dairy farmers have negotiated a price increase of SFr0.06 ($0.058) per kilo of milk with the main processors, agreeing to end a weeklong strike.
The Federation of Swiss Milk Producers said the price rise would come into force from July 1 and remain binding for six months.
Farmers currently receive around SFr0.70 per litre from the main processors - Emmi, Cremo, Elsa and Hochdorf Swissmilk – and had been seeking a SFr0.10 increase.
These four firms process 80 per cent of Swiss milk and the two largest retailers alone sell 75 per cent of the output.
The country's biggest supermarket chain, Migros, has already announced that it will pass the price increase on to consumers. Milk products in its stores will cost eight per cent more from July.
The number of dairy farmers in Switzerland is declining steadily. It has nearly halved over the past two decades, falling from more than 57,000 producers in 1986 to 28,830 in 2007.
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