Milk: Prices

Tim Farron
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what estimate his Department has made of the average (a) farm gate price, (b) price given to processors and (c) supermarket price of a pint of milk in each of the last 12 months.

Jim Fitzpatrick
[holding answer 19 October 2009]: The following tables show monthly UK farm gate and retail milk prices. No information is available on prices paid at all other points in the supply chain.

The farm gate price is calculated from monthly surveys of milk purchasers conducted in England and Wales by DEFRA, in Scotland by The Scottish Government Rural and Environment Research and Analysis Directorate (RERAD) and in Northern Ireland by the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development DARD. The farm gate price is the average price received by producers, net of delivery charges. No deduction has been made for superlevy.

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|              |Units: pence per pint|
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|September 2008|15                   |
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|October 2008  |16                   |
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|November 2008 |15                   |
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|December 2008 |15                   |
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|January 2009  |15                   |
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|February 2009 |14                   |
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|March 2009    |14                   |
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|April 2009    |13                   |
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|May 2009      |12                   |
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|June 2009     |13                   |
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|July 2009     |13                   |
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|August 2009   |13                   |
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|Source:DEFRA. |                     |
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The average retail price of milk published by the Office for National Statistics represents the average across all outlets (including delivered milk) rather than just supermarkets.

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|              |Units: pence per pint|
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|September 2008|42                   |
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|October 2008  |45                   |
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|November 2008 |45                   |
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|December 2008 |45                   |
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|January 2009  |45                   |
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|February 2009 |44                   |
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|March 2009    |44                   |
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|April 2009    |44                   |
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|May 2009      |44                   |
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|June 2009     |44                   |
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|July 2009     |44                   |
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|August 2009   |44                   |
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|Source:ONS.   |                     |
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