The Agricultural Association of São Miguel and the Association of Young Farmers of São Miguel “deplored” yesterday the “unjustified” cuts in milk prices to producers decided by Prolacto and Insulac.
This February, Insulac lowered the price of milk to its producers by an average of 1.5 cents per liter, following Prolacto, which had lowered its price by an average of 2 cents per liter in January.
The two producers’ associations believe these decreases “clearly and objectively contradict the positive trend in the national and international dairy markets.”
This attitude, says the Agricultural Association and the Young Farmers’ Association, “is an affront to milk producers, and is completely unjustified at this time, when production costs remain high, although there have already been some decreases, such as in feed, agricultural diesel and fertilizers”.
“Unfortunately,” said the associations, this stance by the industry “reinforces the need for a mechanism such as the voluntary reduction of milk production, since some industries continue to implement old strategies, which always involve penalizing producers, giving up a chance to value their products on the markets.”


The Agricultural Association of São Miguel and the Association of Young Farmers of São Miguel point out that “the modernization of some industries that have been carried out over the years has not served to counteract the strategy that does not protect the sector, but instead contributes to discrediting the excellence of our milk”. In the opinion of the two associations, the agricultural sector “is going through great difficulties, which can be seen on a daily basis in the protests by farmers that are taking place all over Europe.” They point out that part of the farmers’ demands “have already been safeguarded in the region for three years, namely by the lack of apportionments in the aid paid to Azorean farmers.”
The two São Miguel dairy farmers’ associations stress that “animal welfare, animal health and good agricultural and environmental practices rules are demanded of the agricultural sector and must be duly complied with”.
Farmers “are resilient, but there are limits that cannot be reached and are inconceivable in a modern, pluralistic society”, the two producers’ associations point out before concluding that, “as is well known, the industries make significant annual profits, but these cannot only come from the fall in milk prices for producers. This is neither a fair nor dignified situation for anyone.”
According to data from the Regional Statistics Service, in 2020, Azorean producers had a milk production of around 652 million liters of milk, rising to 607.4 million liters of milk in 2023, which represents a reduction of 44.5 million liters of milk in three years.
According to the same statistics, milk production in the region in 2021 was 643.5 million liters of milk, falling to 601 million liters of milk the following year, 2022, which represents an overall decrease of around 41.8 million liters of milk, given the restructuring of the sector that is underway.

in Correio dos Açores–Natalino Viveiros, director

Translated to English as a community outreach program from the Portuguese Beyond Borders Institute (PBBI) and the Modern and Classical Languages and Cultures Department (MCLL) as part of Bruma Publication and ADMA (Azores-Diaspora Media Alliance)  at California State University, Fresno–PBBI thanks the sponsorship of the Luso-American Development Foundation from Lisbon, Portugal (FLAD)