Dairy farmers in Germany are dumping their milk to boycott the declining price paid to them for their production.

While global food prices have soared, milk prices here have fallen by almost a third this year, the Federation of German Dairy Farmers said, in part because the European Union decided to raise its production quotas. Prices fell even as milk production costs for staples like fuel and feed rose by a quarter. So in a desperate effort to force a price increase, the dairy farmers began a delivery boycott on Tuesday.

The federation estimated that around 10.6 million gallons of milk — up to 60 percent of the country’s production — was dumped, fed to other animals or used for fertilizer on Wednesday alone. The strike had not yet affected grocery store shelves. Milk producers in neighboring countries, including Belgium and Austria, urged dairy farmers to join the strike or at least not to export to Germany.