Shropshire dairy farm fight taken to capital
Farmers in Shropshire joined an emergency summit yesterday which warned that "seismic" change to the way food is sold is essential.
If not, there could be dire consequences for the farming industry and rural economy, farming leaders said.
They have urged the Government, retailers and processors, as well as the European Union, not to ignore the warning signs that farming is in a "state of emergency".
Yesterday's summit in London took place amid warnings that falling milk prices were pushing the industry to "desperation".
David Handley, chairman of Farmers For Action (FFA) who has led several protests in the county, was among those who travelled to the capital yesterday.
Milk prices have been falling steadily, with a recent announcement of a price cut of 0.8p per litre taking the standard litre price to 23.01p for its UK members.
Farmers estimate it costs between 30p and 32p to produce each litre – meaning some are losing almost 10p per litre.
The summit called for an "urgent" meeting of farm ministers and for government to take "immediate action" to protect farmers.
Union bosses have also called for retailers to "stop devaluing fresh British food – such as milk – purely to get customers through the door".
Mr Handley said: "We are not asking them to put prices up to shoppers, we are saying there is such a margin between the farm gate price and the price the retailers are charging customers.
"We understand it is difficult for retailers but that is their problem. We don't understand why the British farming industry should pick up the tab."
Mr Handley, from Monmouth, said
there were 24,000 dairy farmers in the UK 15 years ago but now there are 10,000.
"If it continues we will be down to 5,000 in the next five years," Mr Handley added.
