Butter mountain

Butter being stored in 50 kg (110 lb) barrels

Thebutter mountainis asupply surplusofbutterproduced in theEuropean Unionbecause ofgovernment interventionismthat began in the 1970s. The size of the surplus changed significantly over time and mostly disappeared by 2017, which led to shortages.Other surpluses were described asbeef mountains,milk lakes,wine lakesandgrain mountains.

Excesses existed because the agricultural policies were designed to stabilise prices for farmers and consumers and to ensure that there was enough produce at all times, but production varied from year to year, so in most years there was an excess. Excesses were often sold off cheaply either within the EU or to other markets.

History

Agricultural underproduction in the 1950s led to a series of market interventions, including theCommon Agricultural Policy(CAP). Governments subsidized milk production by a guaranteed minimumintervention pricefordairyproducts.This led to a surge in the production of grain, milk, butter and related products until production exceeded demand in the late 1970s, resulting in a glut. Milk production inWest Germanyalone increased from 75,000,000 tonnes (83,000,000 tons) in 1960 to nearly 100,000,000 tonnes (110,000,000 tons) by 1979.To combat theoverproduction,governments introducedmilk quotas,which were governed by the CAP.

In the following decades, production continued to outstrip demand, and the European governments and later theEuropean Unionwould purchase tonnes of the surplus agricultural goods, creating so-called "milk lakes" and "butter" or "beef mountains".

"Christmas butter"

In West Germany, between 1979 and 1985, excess butter was sold at discounted prices under the direction of theFederal Ministry for Food, Agriculture and Forestsand was limited to 1 kg (2.2 lb) per household.The packages were labelled as being the product of intervention stockpiles and were specifically intended to reduce that oversupply.

Decline

In 2003, it was reported that the EU warehoused 194,000 tonnes (214,000 tons) ofpowdered milkand 223,000 tonnes (246,000 tons) of butter. In 2007, rising demand and planned reforms were forecast to eliminate the oversupply of milk and butter eventually.By 2009, the butter mountain had returned because of a steep decline in the price of dairy products.In 2017, it was reported that European butter stockpiles had largely disappeared because of increased demand and dwindling production, which caused shortages and rising prices.

See also

• Government cheese
• Wine lake