Dairy farmers get paid below production costs — is it really worth it?

Vicenç Fabré owns a dairy farm in Malla, a tiny village in central Catalonia’s Osona county. Fabré has 180 cows. Malla has 272 inhabitants.  

Fabré’s cows produce around 6,000 liters of milk every day, with the cost of production at 0.34 euros per liter. When big dairy companies buy the milk, it will not sell for more than 0.32 euros per liter.

"If we don’t appreciate how much it costs to produce milk, then we’re killing dairy farming," said Fabré, who is racking up debt to save the business and worries he might not be able to afford paying workers fair wages. He is not alone. 

Over the last 20 years, 90% of milk producers in Catalonia have closed for good, down from more than 4,000 to roughly 400. It is estimated that half of them could shut down in three to four years.