Milk price fall will not be tolerated, says NFU

British dairy farmers are not getting a fair deal from the market and any move to reduce farm gate prices will not be tolerated, the NFU has warned.

NFU dairy board chairman Mansel Raymond told dairy farmers at the NFU’s Northern Dairy Conference in North Yorkshire on Tuesday 7 December.

He made a firm promise to dairy farmers that the NFU would not “stand back and do nothing” if milk prices fell further in the New Year.

“We need a strategy that can stop us carrying the lion’s share of the risk and remove our vulnerability from the downward pressure of the market,” Mr Raymond said.

“Farmgate milk prices must go up. Costs of production are 27.5ppl and those costs are increasing day by day.

“The UK spot milk price today is 26ppl and the milk price indicator for liquid milk is at 28ppl. The average UK milk price is 25.5ppl compared with EU average prices at 27.6ppl.

The differentials make it an even worse picture in the UK, with a 6ppl difference between the top price and the bottom price, he said.

He told the conference that the manufacture of dairy commodities in the UK was an industry worth £322.7m more this year than it was in 2009.

“The supply chain is dysfunctional. It’s time for retailers to take responsibility over milk price decisions so farmers receive a fairer, more stable price, which is more responsive to changes in the markets and to costs of production.”