Ag chief: Milk price hike decision was difficult
By The Star Staff
Agriculture Secretary Ramón González Beiró said Thursday that the decision to increase the price of a liter of fresh milk by 11 cents was difficult.
“It is very difficult to have to make the decision to increase the price of a food staple for the people,” González Beiró said in a radio interview. “But as everyone knows, costs globally have been going up, fertilizers, transportation, fuel. The price of grains, corn and soybeans, which are the main part of concentrated feed for cattle, are at historically high prices.”
“So we have made the decision to make an increase at this time, strictly for the livestock sector that has been requesting that increase for a few months and we have been delaying it, until finally we had to make the decision to increase [the price] 11 cents,” he said.
The increase will bring the price of a half-gallon of fresh milk to $3.67, while the price of a gallon will rise to $6.89.