Milk prices have fallen for the eleventh month in a row, and producers are comparing buyers’ rates ever more closely. Where can you get the most for milk today?

Per the latest data from Poland’s Central Statistical Office (GUS), the average milk purchase price in July 2026 was 172.17 zł/hl (about 1.72 zł/l) — down 1.1% on June and 22.8% lower year on year, top agrar reports. The month before, the national average was 174.09 zł/hl; while July’s drop of under 2 gr/l looks small after June’s fall of over 6 gr/l, a smaller cut is still a cut. 

GUS publishes a statistical average, not a given dairy’s list price — individual rates depend on milk parameters, delivery volume and each plant’s bonus system.

Eleven months of decline

The key point is the length of the trend: after a rise in August 2025, the national average fell every month — from about 2.25 zł/l in August 2025 to 1.99 zł/l in December, 1.88 zł/l in January 2026 and 1.72 zł/l in July. That is roughly −16 gr/l since January, −27 gr/l since end-2025 and −53 gr/l since August 2025. 

Prices fell not only in spring and early summer, when seasonal supply rises, but also in autumn and winter.

Prices fell in 14 of 16 regions

In July, prices dropped in 14 of 16 voivodeships, with small rises only in Małopolska (+0.74 gr/l) and Świętokrzyskie (+0.32 gr/l); the biggest monthly fall was in Lubelskie (−5.15 gr/l). Versus December 2025, July prices were lower in every region. 

Podlaskie still paid the most (1.84 zł/l) and Pomorskie the least (1.60 zł/l) — a gap of 23.42 gr/l. See the table in the Ukrainian version for all regions.

Why the pressure persists

Per the European Commission’s dairy dashboard, EU milk collection rose 3.7% year on year in January–May 2026, butter output 9.7% and skimmed milk powder (SMP) 12% — so more milk, butter and powders had to be sold or stored. 

The FAO index confirms it: world dairy prices fell 0.7% in July and were 24.8% lower year on year, weighed down by large EU and Oceania supplies and weaker whole-milk-powder demand, especially from China. Per KOWR, the value of Polish dairy exports in H1 2026 was €1.9 billion, 10% lower year on year (EU sales −16%, non-EU +8%), with the EU still 68% of export value.

Farmer gets less; butter costs 99 groszy in shops

The contrast frustrates producers: invoices show cut after cut and herd costs stay high, yet shops lure customers with milk or butter at 99 groszy. 

The shelf promo is not the farmer’s price, but it raises fair questions about who bears the cost and whether retail competition adds pressure upstream. Meanwhile powders have begun to recover — at the 18 August GDT, SMP rose 7.6% and WMP 3%, cheddar +0.6%, while butter fell 2% and anhydrous milk fat 6% — but the improvement is too short and narrow to call a turnaround in raw-milk prices.

*Zloty-to-hryvnia exchange rate as of 24 August 2026 — UAH 12.1245 per 1 zloty.

Source: top agrar (GUS, European Commission, FAO, KOWR, AHDB / Global Dairy Trade data)