Stores will pay farmers more for milk

TWO supermarket chains have announced rises in the amount they pay suppliers for milk after blockades by farmers.

The Co-operative and Morrisons have responded to farmers who have been protesting over being paid less for milk than it costs to produce it.

Processing plants in Derbyshire and Worcestershire were blockaded by farmers on tractors last Friday over claims they will go out of business unless they are paid more.

Morrisons said it was increasing by 5p per litre the amount it pays in its farmgate milk price, to be reviewed after three months. Co-operative said it would increase the premium paid to farmers to 2.57p per litre with immediate effect and to 4.27p per litre from 1 August, giving farmers a total of 29p per litre.

UK Environment Secretary Caroline Spelman and Farming Minister Jim Paice are to meet farmers, milk processors and supermarkets next week to resolve the crisis in the dairy industry.

Dairy farmers are furious about cuts of up to 2p a litre in the amount they receive from major milk processors. The protest group Farmers For Action (FFA) is warning that cuts in the price paid to suppliers by dairy processors - including by Scots milk giant Robert Wiseman - combined with rising feed costs, could force hundreds of dairy farmers out of business.

Last Thursday, Simon McCreery, of Yester Mains Farm, East Lothian, delivered milk to more than 300 Edinburgh homes – including the First Minister’s residence at Bute House – as NFU Scotland drew attention to the plight of farmers north of the border.