Hungarian farmers march with cows to protest low milk prices

BUDAPEST, Hungary – Hungarian dairy farmers have marched with some 50 cows near parliament asking the government to lower taxes on all dairy products while claiming that support from Hungary and the European Union is insufficient and ineffective.

The farmers handed over a petition Tuesday to an official from Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s office, demanding more talks with the government and complaining that authorities had broken earlier agreements.

Hungary is planning to cut sales tax (VAT) on fresh milk from 18 per cent to 5 per cent from 2017, but farmers want the lower tax rate to apply to other dairy products, too.

Dairy farmer Imre Hegedus said they were getting 60 to 65 forints ($0.21-$0.23) per litre of raw milk from processors, covering just over half of farmers’ production costs.