Santa Cruz dairy farmers seek a price adjustment after diesel rises 83%
The Federation of Milk Producers of Santa Cruz (FEDEPLE) said the higher fuel cost should be included in negotiations over the price paid to dairy farmers. Its president, Juan Manuel Rojas, said diesel had become about 83% more expensive and was affecting several parts of production. “We cannot hide the fact that diesel has made our costs 83% more expensive,” he said.
YPFB reported in early October that Supreme Decree 5716 had set diesel at Bs 17.95 per litre. The measure replaced the previous fixed-price arrangement with a mechanism linked to import costs and international markets. The former price was Bs 9.80 per litre, making the increase approximately 83%.
FEDEPLE said diesel is used beyond the transport of milk. It powers tractors and other machinery, supports the preparation and distribution of feed, and is used to move farm inputs. Fuel costs also affect the transport of grain, supplements, veterinary products and other materials purchased by farmers.
Rojas called for the producer price to reflect the new cost structure but did not specify a new price. He also did not say that the milk price should rise by 83%. FEDEPLE’s position is that the fuel increase should be considered in discussions between producers and processors. “There has to be an increase,” Rojas said.
A separate negotiation is under way in Cochabamba. Producers there have proposed raising the price of raw milk by Bs 2 per litre, while PIL has offered an increase of Bs 0.30. No final agreement had been publicly announced in the latest available information, and the parties were still examining production costs.
FEDEPLE said milk production in Santa Cruz had remained relatively stable and was showing signs of recovery after several difficult years. Rojas, who heads the federation’s 2025–2027 board, said the objective was to prevent higher costs from absorbing that improvement. “We are recovering some of the production after the serious blows we suffered over the past five years,” he said.
The federation has also called for better conditions for the use of biotechnology and greater legal certainty for investment. Rojas expressed support for a sector proposal called Mi Bolivia Lechera, which seeks to update the regulatory framework for dairy farming; it is not a law currently in force. Dairy organisations had already called in February for a review of the reference price for raw milk, citing production costs. The diesel-price change has added a further issue to those discussions.
