Alert for dairy farmers: Italian spot milk price drops to 20 cents/kg

One of the most important indicators of the European dairy market, the CLAL platform Centro Latte Alimentare Lendinara (CLAL), has sent a worrying signal to the dairy sector across the continent. The price of raw milk for short-term „spot“ trading in the northern Italian region of Lodi reached just €20.5/100 kg at the beginning of March 2026, compared to more than double that level just two years ago.

The spot milk price does not always coincide with the farm-gate milk price paid to farmers, as processors tend to set it for longer periods of time - a month or a few weeks at a time.

For example, at the same time as the Lodi spot milk price was around €20.8/100 kg, the average milk price paid by farms in the European Union was around €47/100 kg. This represents more than double the difference between free market prices and long-term purchase contracts.

However, these price differences have important implications – „spot“ market signals are often the first indication of future changes in milk farmgate prices, as processors and traders can quickly adjust short-term purchases. Historically, it has been observed that „spot“ price fluctuations are often reflected in the prices paid to farmers a few months later.

In other words, strong price falls may be reflected in the near future and dairy producers should keep a close eye on market developments. On the other hand, the price of "spot" milk is often highly volatile as this market represents only a small part of the milk trade. It is mostly used to sell surplus milk not covered by long-term contracts. Therefore, even a sharp fall in the spot price (e.g. down to €20/100 kg) does not necessarily mean that farm-gate prices paid to farmers across Europe will fall in the near future in a similar way.

CLAL operates as an independent information portal providing comprehensive data on milk production, marketing, prices and dairy markets. It is a more relevant source of information for the European market than, for example, the dairy trading platform „Global Dairy Trade“ (GDT), run by a New Zealand cooperative, which is more representative of the situation in the Oceania region.

„Agrobite“ also regularly analyses GDT index developments and trends in the global dairy market.