Paice demands voluntary milk price code deal

Discussions on the shape of the code, which is designed to address the imbalance in the milk supply chain, are now at a very advanced stage, with an intense period of negotiations to take place in London over the next few days.

In his speech to Dairy UK in London, Paice stressed the importance of the dairy industry to Britain’s rural economy and said the manner of recent cuts to farm gate milk prices had been a real concern for many people.

“However, he added, “in a volatile market, everybody knows prices will go up and down. The key is for us to build trust and transparency, so that farmers and processors can work together and take advantage of the huge business opportunities both here and abroad.

“A voluntary code of practice will mean people having to do things slightly differently – but it will ultimately benefit the industry as a whole – and I implore all sides to make a final push and agree a workable compromise.”

Reacting to the comments from the minister, an NFU spokesman said the voluntary code of practice had the potential to address the imbalance that currently existed in the contractual arrangements between milk producers and their milk buyers.

But he added they were not quite there yet; “While areas of consensus have been identified, there are still other parts of the proposed code that require a compromise to be reached before we would accept the code on behalf of our dairy farming members.”

At the back of Paice’s call for an industry agreement was his belief that the dairy industry should look beyond the traditional liquid market and supply some of the £1.2 billion of cheese, yoghurts and other products that were currently imported.

He also spoke on his recent experience on a food and farming trade mission to China as an example of how the world was crying out for luxury Western products.

ANDREW ARBUCKLE