Quality-based pricing of milk
Finnish farmers are incentivized to produce high quality milk through a quality-based pricing system. The portion of milk in the highest paid category (Category E) has increased exponentially over the past three decades.
The Finnish quality-based pricing system consists of three price categories: E, I and II. The highest paid category (Category E) contains low somatic cell and bacterial counts, and it cannot contain remnants of antimicrobial drugs or other foreign substances.
Table: Quality-based pricing system for Finnish milk
Category
|
Somatic cell count; cells/ml (3-month sliding geometric mean) |
Bacterial count; CFU/ml (2-month sliding geometric mean) |
E |
< 250 000 |
< 50 000 |
I |
250 000–400 000 |
50 000–100 000 |
II |
> 400 000 |
> 100 000 |
In 2021, 96.8% of Finnish milk was classified as Category E. The portion of category E-milk was the highest in December (98.0 %) and the lowest in August (94.2 %). The portion of milk in Category E has increased significantly over the past three decades.
Figure 1: The portion of milk in Category E has increased significantly over the past three decades.
Figure 2: The portion of milk in Category E is the highest in the winter and the lowest in the summer.