Farmers need action not words in milk row, insists NFU
Shropshire's dairy farmers need action and not words from one of the country's biggest milk buyers, the NFU said today.
Jeremy Lowe, the union's Telford-based regional dairy adviser, was speaking after Muller-owned Robert Wiseman Dairies and dairy farmers began talks on how the firm should set the price it pays for milk. Muller said the 'Wisemilk Initiative' will look at bringing 'transparency' to the industry.
The talks, which are expected to take about three months to complete, follow mass protests earlier this year against plans to cut the price paid for milk by the country's biggest dairy firms, including Muller Wiseman.
Farmers said they would have been selling milk for 25p per litre, less than the 30p cost of production.
Pete Nicholson, milk procurement director at Robert Wiseman Dairies, said: "There is a shared belief that steps can be taken to remove the tensions and lack of clarity in the supply chain at the moment.
"It's time to start the process of rebuilding trust and we will work diligently and constructively in order to achieve this end."
A company spokesman said the first meeting took place earlier this week and had been 'productive'.
But Jeremy Lowe said: "The NFU is very interested to see what Wiseman concludes. However, a talking shop doesn't sell anything and what we need to see is better contracts for dairy farmers and more sustainable milk prices.
"Milk prices at the very least need to reflect the cost of production.
"One challenge the NFU set was over sustainable pricing mechanisms – how milk is valued – but another was over fairer prices to keep our dairy farms open for business and we are still looking for farm gate price rises to reflect the major increases in the costs farmers are experiencing.
"Tough weather conditions will have an impact over the autumn and winter, costs have gone up for all the things that farmers need to feed their animals, like wheat and soya."
By Andrew Owen
