Farmers stage Muller and Wiseman Dairy protest
Hundreds of farmers from across the Midlands blockaded dairy giants Muller and Wiseman Dairy overnight as the row over milk prices escalated.
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Hundreds of farmers from across the Midlands blockaded dairy giants Muller and Wiseman Dairy overnight as the row over milk prices escalated.
Tractors and lorries were used to block the entrances to the two Market Drayton firms, stopping lorries from leaving.
Organisers Farmers For Action said 500 people took part in protest, which was part of a co-ordinated night of demonstrations nationwide.
Blockades were also set up in Bridgwater, Somerset and Droitwich Spa, Worcestershire.
In Shropshire, demonstrators used pots of yoghurt to spell out the words ‘SOS Dairy’ on a traffic island into Market Drayton as drivers blew their horns and flashed their lights in support.
One protester, sat in a bath and had milk poured over her alongside placards pointing out that the price of milk is currently cheaper than water.
Farmers For Action is warning that cuts in the price paid to suppliers by dairy processors, combined with rising feed costs, could force hundreds of dairy farmers out of business. They have vowed to continue protests outside milk processing plants until they receive a better deal.
Video of the Muller protest by Steven Bailey
One of the organisers of last night’s protest, Paul Rowbottom, a farmer fromIpstones in Staffordshire, said: “We want Muller to move their milk price up to a sensible price instead of knocking it down.
“We have to get the message back to Muller and Wiseman that the price they want is not acceptable. We want everyone on the same playing field and a fair price for everyone. There are farmers here from across the country – from Berkshire to Nottinghamshire, Derby, Staffordshire and Shropshire. We are very cheesed off.”
One protester, Simon Lea, 36, who farms in Loggerheads, near Market Drayton, said the future of dairy farming was under threat. He said: “We have been farming in my family for more than 50 years. It is a peaceful protest, but we need to be heard.
“We were planning to put up a new set-up in our place to improve the standards of the milk but now we wont be able to do that. We don’t know if this is going to be a short-lived thing but we are already losing out.”
James Glover runs Pro Ag, based in Market Drayton, and works as a contractor to farmers specialising in putting down slurry.
Mr Glover said the level of work was already being hit, which he added could affect jobs. “I employ three people, and sometimes six in the summer. But I don’t know if we’re going to be able to do that in the future if this continues,” he said.
Last night’s protest followed demonstrations outside supermarkets in Shrewsbury, Telford and Newtown on Saturday.
A spokesman for Muller said: “It is important to stress that despite milk price reductions announced elsewhere in the dairy industry, Müller Dairy has made no announcement of a milk price cut from August.
"We fully understand the strength of feeling amongst dairy producers but milk prices for all dairy products are driven by market forces and processors can only pay a price that reflects the returns from the markets in which they operate.
“The Müller Group as a whole has a long track record of paying a competitive milk price to dairy farmers in all the markets in which we operate, and we intend to maintain this approach.”
A spokesman for Robert Wiseman Dairies said: “We fully understand the strength of feeling amongst dairy producers and continue to engage with those with an interest in the dairy supply chain.
“It is important to stress we are not in a position to fund a milk price at the level it was prior to the global collapse in the value of cream.
“It is our hope that the market for liquid milk and bulk cream which is at the core of this issue will quickly find a balance which will allow us to return improved prices to farmers.”
Over the weekend supermarket giants Morrisons and the Co-op backed down over the price cuts and Asda has now agreed to pay 2p a litre more from August 1.
Comments for: "Farmers stage Muller and Wiseman Dairy protest"
The graduate
MMMM to the person on here who said "i knew nothing" when i commented on muller, fresh milk, etc the other day please prey tell me why are the farmers whose praise you sang, outside muller.I suggest you no nothing of the industry you prattled on about.
The Original Jake
What are you talking about?
I've just re-read some of your previous ill-informed posts on this subject and the replies of numerous people who have all tried to put you right.
In case it isn't clear, here is a recap of the situation.
Supermarkets have long dictated the prices they will pay to milk processors, using a 'take it or lose it' approach. Milk processors have always accepted lower prices, since they have been able to make up the difference on the commodity markets through the sale of cream - which is a disastrous commercial strategy. Now that market has collapsed, the processors have no slack, so they are forcing cuts onto the dairy farmers to ensure their own short-term survival. They know that dairy farmers can't just turn production on and off and therefore have no choice in the matter. This has stretched farmers beyond the limit, which is why they are now protesting at the gates of the processors.
It may appear that the 'poor processors' are piggy in the middle, but they have failed to stand up to the supermarkets' bully boy tactics and must therefore accept their share of the responsibility for the current crisis. That's why the farmers are taking direct action. I suspect another reason they're blockading processors' gates, rather than using other means, is that the processors are local to the farms... the farmers still have cows to milk and have to fit everything into the (long) working day.
The long term risk (in my opinion): If action is not taken, then British dairy farming will literally dry up. There will be no local supply chain, so the processors will eventually move their facilities closer to sources of supply, i.e. ports, where milk will be imported from Eastern Europe. In doing so they will take hundreds of direct jobs away from the region and thousands of indirect jobs in the wider supply chain will also be under threat.
THAT is why the protection and survival of dairy farming is critical to Shropshire's economy. So-called free market conditions have failed our dairy farmers because supermarkets know that cheap milk can be imported from elsewhere, where standards of animal welfare are questionable. None of this is of any concern to the supermarkets, as long as they continue to line their global shareholders' pockets.
And what's it all about? It's so that supermarkets can sell milk at loss-leading prices to bring shoppers in through their doors. The sad irony is that it's not the supermarket making the loss.
Rant over.
The graduate
JaKe MULLER ARE NOT PIGGIES IN THE MIDDLE FACT!!
Your also the guy that told me milk is no more than 5 days old rubbish ie fresh daily pinta.
Milk delivered by said cow monday evening , picked up Tuesday transported to process plant THERE wed . thur, fri , saturday transported to distributor ie your local dairy ,stays in dairy until monday morning where it is picked up by your local if you still have one milkman .
Milkman takes 15 crates out on delivery average milkman brings back one to two crates due to cancellation etc that milk then on monday afternoon goes in to refrigeration until Tuesday it is then the first pintas dropped on Tuesday morning .MILK 9 DAYS OLD FRESH MY ....
The Original Jake
"JaKe MULLER ARE NOT PIGGIES IN THE MIDDLE FACT!!"
I know. That's what I said. Go back and read it again. They may be accomplices in this whole debacle, because they roll over like obedient puppy dogs when the supermarkets order them to, but losing them - as well as the dairies at Crudgington, Minsterly and, to a smaller degree, Donnington (Nom) - as major primary and secondary employers in Shropshire if the milk supplies fail is NOT AN OPTION. They have to unite with the farmers and stand up to the supermarkets for a change. Without regulation, it's unlikely that they will do that, sadly.
"Your also the guy that told me milk is no more than 5 days old..."
No I'm not.
Wile Coyote
He's right, that was me...you've still not got a clue what you are huffing and puffing about do you...
Magic
Could the farmers not have stopped the milk from leaving the farms in the first place & made the same impact and saved a lot of effort and disruption to others? Oh I forgot, they wouldn't get paid would they if they did that, what a noble bunch people they are. Let them have the 3p I say, but cut the massive subsidies they get.
The Original Jake
And they would store it... where?
The graduate
Poor it down the drain, they are selling at a loss so whats the difference?.
The Original Jake
Pollution. Huge TOC (Total Organic Carbon) content. Massive fines.
dave t
these dairy farmers are self employed to reduce tax and earn lots and accrue capital value on their land and assets even when revenues are down from milk
they are using their 50,000 landrovers and 80,000 tractors to blockade creameries where minimum wage workers graft, they are trying to get more money rather than be efficient and drive down their production costs like other suppliers do
they are no better than the stricking fuel tanker drivers they are militant leftist unionists and they should be crushed
milk prices cost working families dear and inflate the whole economy and other foodstuffs, it is right that consumers pay less and farmers work harder and more efficiently like other people are having to do right now
Dairy Farmer
Magic and Dave T, will you work for nothing so why should we. Is this a debate about fairtrade or just an excuse to bash farmers. Alas your £50,000 landrovers are outside most schools or trendy pubs with no towbars on them. Most machines used in any job are expensive (Jcb lorries) , as for subsidies what a joke . Decide what you want cheap n nasty food or a proper healthy one because you CAN'T HAVE BOTH . We will do what it takes to survive but others taking a 400% markup is taking the .....
The graduate
Nothing to do with cheap and nasty food, it is if one is bothered about animal welfare standards . A little debatable whether ours are any better than across the EU.
Nothing to do with working for nothing either . If your own business is not viable toodle doo mate, get a viable business or go and work for someone else.
Dairy Farmer
Having just reread Dave T comment what a load of rubbish. You can have cheap produced food, but don't stand there screaming about animal welfare, rights of way ,badgers and how you want the countryside to look. We choose our way of life but there are others trying to change the "goalposts " halfway through a two year plan . As for us having clout to cause inflation, WRONG , we get the blame for price rises and DONT get the money. There is 10p worth of wheat in a loaf of bread but wheat prices where the excuse to put bread price up.
The graduate
HEY Dairy Farmer what other businesses have your industry stood along side???? over the years .
What has rights of way to do with all this?? they were their long before you sunshine. Any home owner cant change the look of their homes or gardens or land so why do you assume you can without objection? or answerable to questions.
Thats the trouble with SOME farmers backward thinking , and working in a insular industry, cant be told anything, its rather like arguing with a brick wall STOP BLOCKING PEOPLES PLACE OF WORK and i suggest our police force shift them.
The Original Jake
"STOP BLOCKING PEOPLES PLACE OF WORK"
If the dairy industry ceases to exist then so will those places of work.
The graduate
MULLER WILL IMPORT , minsterley dairy is not viable anyway hasn't been for the last 5 years .
The Original Jake
What makes you think Muller set up in Shropshire in the first place? The fact that 90% of the chief raw material for their products is available within a 30 mile radius, of course.
So if the supply dries up, will they import into Shropshire, or will they run down the Shrewsbury Road site over the years and build new facilities closer to ports, where the milk supply will now come from? Or even wind up their UK operations entirely?
Dairy Farmer
Minsterley must be viable or are you calling Mr Muller a fool now. Perhaps the reported price of £4 million was a investment on such a large site. Muller might have also planned to make his own puddings adding value of his own to cream .
The graduate
mmmmm mr dairy farmer me thinks minsterley creamery will be gone in 5 years and no, muller are not stupid great redevelopment land.
ernie and his milk float
40p a litre for farmers milk, any supermarket or processor npt paying this should be boycotted out of business. no supermarlets to loss lead or bogoff milk.
and he drove the fastest milkfloat in the west. good old ernie he is a millionaire now
Dairy Farmer
Graduate of what? The backward thinking farmers are actually fed up with self important people dictating how we should farm . The comments where made to highlight how people like YOU want conflicting things. Do you want cheap food then shut up and live with what system you get. If you want a better quality of care for animals/countryside get supermarkets to keep less profit and pass more back down the chain . Any other business does not try to appease so many different people at once. SUNSHINE . ps why are diesel prices rising as soon as we start to have sunshine to harvest.
Kat de Gama
'Graduate of what?' yes, I've wondered too.
The graduate
Graduate in what? I will say it slowly its a pen name.
Diesel price? assume you mean red diesel, ? well it is like house heating oil it goes up when in most demand not rocket science but market forces play a part .
Why is food produced by A BRITISH farmer better?? .
We are talking basically animal welfare issues only above all else, the food IS NOT POORER QUALITY FROM ELSEWHERE no evidence to suggest this at all.
Food produced in france where i lived for nine years on a small local farm in northern france is of equal quality and the animal welfare issues i saw there on neighbors farms were super, INFACT BETTER .
I also saw solidarity amongst farmers you do not get that in the UK small farmers and small tenant farmers have been cast aside with the big boys just buying up the land . We have council small holders losing their farms do not see the average British farmer backing them .
If people have no problem with intensive animal farming then we have not got a problem .
The Original Jake
"If people have no problem with intensive animal farming then we have not got a problem."
People do have a problem with it. You appear to have forgotten, but a lot of people remember BSE and foot & mouth, both of which were the result of methods linked with intensive livestock farming.
Intensive farming looks great on an accountant's financial model, but having a pretty looking Excel workbook is about as out of touch with the reality of farming as it gets.
dairy farmer
At the risk of the graduate replying Bse was caused by FEED COMPOUNDERS putting cheap protein in feed ie meat n bone meal , blood and whole host of other nasties. No they where not included on ingredient list this. Foot and Mouth came from infected meat from South America being fed to the military and the waste food not being treated properly (swillfeed for pigs) leading to the outbreak . Unless you mean when the government technicians released it through a drain at Pirbright accidentaly. I await correction from you know who.
The graduate
Foot and mouth was as prolific as it was due to very poor practice by dealers in general transporting stock all over the uk with little accountability, even after restrictions were put in place .I also remember a lot of flack aimed at so called hobby farmers too.
As for BSE to dairy framer if it was on the ingredients list i hazard a guess it would still have been fed.
Kat de Gama
@ Graduate - you don't need to speak slowly to Dairy Farmer or me. I would wager that my academic qualifications are much more impressive than yours,
The graduate
woopy dooo but nobody is talking qualifications, personally i couldn't careless what you have .
sowhat
I fin it absolutely shocking and sad when people like 'the graduate' (joke name) and others who are attacking the dairy farmers because they are being fleeced.
Don't you people want milk produced locally or are you happy it being shipped in from abroad?
When farms disappear due to the power of supermarkets, and believe me it will happen, wil that make you happy??
What happened to 'stick together' or are you all shareholders i the supermarket chain? yes if it means we pay a few pence more for milk then sign me up because i would rather that than the loss of our dairy farmers.
A tip for you 'the gradute' find a more realistic user name! you know very little about a lot!
The graduate
More about the farming industry than you i think .
Mark
So share it with us then.
Fiona Thick as two planks
Please!
The graduate
People are not automatically wrong just because they fail to agree with the victim here.
As for me brought up and lived on a farm on a farm until the age of 22 then went to work on one of the biggest country estates in the UK, then lived on a small holding in france for just under nine years , now live on a holding in the UK.
Both grandfathers life long farm owners , 5 uncles farm owners in wales and kent. Two uncles came out of dairy farming 7 years ago and went in to beef and sheep the other two are arable farmers , YEP surrounded by farmers me.
Peter
Technically I think sheep farmers are more likely to get fleeced...
Anthony Clark
British Farmers, most of which I see driving round in top ot the range brand new range rovers are on a whinge!. If they don't watch out they are very unpopular with the consumer. Lots of them said they were going to go out of business years ago and are still going strong. There is a saying in life, suvival of the fittest. Get out of it if yo dont like it and stop your pointless protests!
Dairy Farmer
Anthoney Clark , you must be living by old Trafford. Lots have gone out of business hence all the barn conversions . OPEN your eyes at the lack of cows around and the houses and building developments everywhere. Again like the graduate you rant about perceptions of rich farmers bemoaning loss of income and being efficient. We can go to extreme production measures but no-one wants that except you. Dairy farmers do support a lot of other jobs, we where led to believe that for every farmer there are 15 others supplying them with goods/services.
The Original Jake
"we where led to believe that for every farmer there are 15 others supplying them with goods/services"
Interesting number. So of the 450 or so dairy farms that are left in Shropshire, that would be 7,200 jobs being supported. Of the 250 others that have fallen by the wayside in recent years, that's 4,000 that have already gone.
I'd say that's a pretty important number to protect. I challenge anyone to name a single private sector industry that provides employment for as many people in this county.
The farmers' actions seem like a polite "excuse me..." compared with the miners strikes.
Anthony Clark
I live in the country like you Dairy Farmer. My neighbour has just trippled his herd size. You make it sound you ae all unique and deserve the same! It has come to the time of survival of the good and fittest, take it on the chin. Are you in that league perhaps?
Dairy Farmer
Bet your neighbour glad he invested all that money . Has he gone from 150/450 or 80 / 240. The rest of us are at 220/250 already. Nocton dairy is the business model of choice then ? Again the question is which production system do people want/approve off because the farmer at Welshpool tried to play the large herd card n got shot down in flames.
The graduate
Small fry compared to my friend "super is the only size he is planning .
Dairy Farmer
Graduate , you prove how little you know every time you make a comment.
If you knew anything you would concede that sow stalls are illegal here, hen cages have been improved just for starters all these things are welfare measures. All your little snipes are laughable especially 9day old milk,
Wiseman turn raw product around in hours not days. MMB was dispersed under Maggie Thatcher's rule no excuse there either just fact sunshine. If you are able explain "abuse of power" to the supermarkets please do so, until then think before you leap because your pontificating is keeping us laughing.
The graduate
milk is nine days old get real dairy farmer.
As for sow stalls etc who mentioned them never saw much intensive farming of livestock in france to be honest either.
I think it is you mr farmer who need to get out and about and not believe everything you are told .
All said and done perhaps you should have been a little brighter and got out of dairy when you had the chance? say about 7 or so years ago??, sorry but the amount of farmers in the UK and the turn out, is the only thing laughable here sunshine.
dairy farmer
France not on same scale as Holland pig production (sow stalls). I certainly don't believe the self proclaimeed bull... you come out with . First you herald the small holder as the saviour then it's nocton's 1200 cows, if you so full of farming history why do you make such nonsense up and expect to argue for both sides at once.
Also size does matter as you sound like your suffering "small man syndrome" as you say you are the "GRADUATE" to give yourself gravitas on all the subjects you comment on.
Hindsight would have spotted the economic melt down ,or did you spot that one too?
Fiona Thick as two planks
Please read slowly Grad because we are writing sssslllooooooowwwwwlllyyyyy.Weeeeee wiiiiillll deeeeffffeeeennnnd oooouuurrr ffaaaaaarrrrmmmmmmerrrsss!
Port Hill Boy
Speak for yourself Fiona.
I'll defend farmers when they defend other industries.
Curious Bystander
OK, genuine question ...
When I hear reports that the average farmer is "loosing £50K per year" what exactly does that mean? Is that actually losing £50K (ie, going further overdrawn) or just making £50K less.
I'm not sure I know many people who can afford to stand that even short term never mind "we'll give it until Christmas as see what happens" so what other forms of income are farmers receiving to help them survive?
I can only assume it's either government/EU subsidy, or you're already sitting on piles of cash (and therefore much better off than those who's sympathy you're asking for) but you're not willing to play Cameron's "we're all in it together" game until things pick up again.
The graduate
Well from experience, farmer tells you his actual profit after he has deducted ALL expenditure which includes all loans even food for his table he then gives you a figure of well below the national average.
Not the real figure some should be accountants, i knew one farmer who claimed working tax credits as he was only the worker on his dads farm and paid minimum wage all well planned who lets facts get in the way .
dairy farmer
grad , dont let facts get in the way of a good rant eh .
Curious Bystander
DF: Why let uncomfortable truths get in the way of a real, open and honest answer?
dairy farmer
curious, losing 50k means it coming of the bottom line , have made full time worker redundant and a part time one . Have to rely on unpaid family labour (kids) . We have tripled milk production and doubled cow numbers with own bred replacements. Christmas is a long way away this will be sorted before then.
30p is cost of production with no profit built in Tesco own advisers acknowledge this but because processors are fighting for market share they used cream to finance it. Cream dropped ,supermarkets wouldn't give so they cut our price . Wisemans alone on average handle 1 million litres a day at each of their sites so for every 1p saved equates to 10k a day they are cutting price by more than that. As for the piles of cash they went with the wine lakes in the last generation of farmers
Curious Bystander
Thanks for that DF. If I understand you correctly, for every 1000 litres of milk you sell at 25p you're effectively saying "here's £50 for taking this stuff off my hands" to the tanker driver. Is that right?
don't tell 'ee tell i
they varmers need to change tactics, get they tractors down to the lympics and block they lympic lanes, plenty of time to hit mullers dairycrest and wisemans, you get they tractors down to stratford london. drive a herd of ayrshires thru london, that should guarantee thee 50p a litre for life. if they cassn't kill couch, then b*gger up they lympics for a few days.
now we are varming!
and ernie is proud to work for they roddington dairies!
Jimbo
So much for a peacefull protest. What about the yogurts that were used for your SOS and then thrown over the hedge against Culina buildings. The mess had to be cleaned up by Culina staff on Monday.
dairy farmer
Protest over price to which Muller then say have free product as we making so much out of you . Security man wouldn't take them back , no bins so they where put over by the militant ones .