Dairy farmers in 'free milk' protest

Scottish dairy farmers acted as Santa Claus to shoppers in Govan and South Queensferry yesterday by handing out more than 1,000 pints of free milk.

The aim was to highlight to the public the huge difference between the price farmers are paid for their milk and the price shoppers are being charged by supermarkets.

Industry sources say dairy farmers are receiving an average of only 25p a litre for their milk, while supermarkets are charging consumers 62p a litre. After taking costs into account, farmers reckon supermarkets are profiteering by up to 18p a litre while dairy farmers - with costs of 28p a litre to produce milk - are losing 3p on every litre.

NFU Scotland president Jim McLaren led yesterday's demonstration at an ASDA store in Govan while his vice-president, Nigel Miller, headed a similar demonstration at a Tesco store in South Queensferry. Other dairy farmers handed out leaflets at stores throughout Scotland.

"Asking retailers to help deliver a fair share of the margin made on food back to the farm gate is a perfectly reasonable demand and one that shoppers across Scotland have been backing in their droves today," said McLaren.

"Our recent discussion with supermarkets on the need for a fairer supply chain across all food sectors - particularly milk - have been fruitless. Perhaps they will listen to their customers."

The response to the plight of dairy farmers, said McLaren, demonstrated that shoppers valued and appreciated the part Scottish farmers played in delivering fresh food daily.

"We need supermarkets to show a similar commitment to all those farmers who work hard to stock their shelves with beef, lamb, pork, chicken, eggs, fruit and vegetables as well as milk and dairy products," he said. "All parts of the chain are entitled to a fair return for their efforts.

"To be sustainable, farmers need a price for any food that covers the cost of production and meets the growing level of cost and investment needed to run any modern farm.

"With recent inflation figures highlighting the rising cost of food while prices paid to farmers remain stagnant, government and the general public will soon realise exactly who is benefitting from rising food prices when supermarkets publish their annual profits."

Over the last 10 years, one in three dairy farmers has quit milk production and there are now just 1,100 dairy farms left in Scotland, compared with 1,900 in 1999 and 5,000 25 years ago.Although average herd size has increased, cow numbers are also down from 282,000 head in 1980 to 185,000.

The output of the Scottish dairy industry is 275 million, representing more than 12 per cent of all Scottish farm output.

McLaren last night called on the UK government to act quickly to appoint an ombudsman with teeth to enforce the supermarket code of conduct and ensure supermarkets treat their suppliers fairly.

The union has also welcomed new European Commission proposals which would strengthen the position of producers when negotiating prices with milk processors.