Milk production costs exceed farmgate price in Castilla y León

Feed is the largest cost item at €28.06 per 100 kg of milk, or about 58.7% of the total. Labour, including the farmer’s own work, accounts for about 20%. The cost of the feed ration has risen since the start of the year from €240.14 to €268.14 per tonne, an increase of 11.66%, and is 14.45% higher than in the same period of 2025.

Regional Agriculture Minister Joaquín Antonio Pino said the study aims to warn of the squeeze on farmers’ margins and provide an objective tool for decision-making. “Dairy farms are fundamental to maintaining the country’s food sovereignty,” he said. The ministry pledged to monitor compliance with the Food Chain Law (Ley de la Cadena Alimentaria), which requires farmgate prices to cover production costs, and to impose firm penalties for breaches. The regional government also plans to reduce administrative burdens on farms and support their modernisation.

DairyNews.today previously reported that farmers’ organisation UCCL had called on the regional government to urgently update its cost study, as the previous one covered the period only up to February 2025. UCCL estimated that production costs had already exceeded 50 cents per kilogram.