Dairy farmers are “going out of business one after another” because they cannot keep up with the price increase.

The heat wave also triggered… “Raising prices does not cover the rising costs.”

Many households that purchase milk, yogurt, and other dairy products on a daily basis have recently experienced a series of price hikes, and many feel that the prices have become more expensive. The background is the rise in various costs, but even a series of price hikes has not been able to cover the cost increase. Dairy farmers continue to close their businesses due to financial difficulties. The time may come when it will be difficult to obtain domestically produced milk. What is happening?

Another Price Hike…

Yotsuba Dairy (Hokkaido) manufactures and sells dairy products such as Yotsuba Milk. According to the company’s website (homepage), the company raised the price of its products on August 1 of this year, raising the price of unadjusted milk by an average of 8%. The company also raised the price of unadjusted milk by an average of 8% on April 1 of this year.

Yotsuba Dairy is trying to gain the understanding of consumers by explaining the reasons for the price hikes in detail on its website. The two reasons for the price increase are (1) the rising cost of cattle feed and (2) the rising cost of fuel and materials. The feed consists of corn, soybean meal, and other grains and grasses, most of which are imported. The recent depreciation of the yen is another factor driving up import prices.

It is not enough to raise prices to cover all cost increases.

If we raise prices, demand will surely drop,” said Mr. Kato, who is the president of Isonuma Farm (Tokyo, Japan).

The owner of Isonuma Farm (Hachioji City, Tokyo) says, “If we raise prices, demand will surely drop. The successive price hikes for dairy products have also had a negative impact,

I have heard that many dairy farmers have not been able to cover the cost increases over the past year or two,” said one of the owners of Isonuma Farm in Hachioji City, Tokyo.

said an official of J Milk, an industry organization for producers and sellers of raw milk. The largest cost increase is in feed. In addition, electricity costs are high because cows are sick in the summer when it is hot, and kerosene is used in the winter to keep cows warm. For a large dairy farmer, the electricity bill alone is 10 million yen a year,

The electricity bill alone can amount to 10 or 20 million yen a year,” said a J-Milk official.

(J-Milk official, same as above). The cost of gasoline for trucks carrying feed and materials is also rising.