Organisers behind the ongoing dairy protests, which have garnered widespread support for farmers and forced milk buyers to rescind proposed price cuts, which would have proven devastating to the sector, are now discussing the next steps in their campaign. Organisers in the Dairy Coalition, which consists of a number of farming groups, will meet on Friday (10th August) to develop the next stage of their strategy to secure  a sustainable milk price for dairy farmers, following a month of successful protests.

Barley a week after protesting farmers and the groups supporting them announced they would be turning their attention to frozen foods retailers including Iceland and Farmfoods, management officials at Farmfoods agreed to hold talks with representatives from the Dairy Coalition. The announcement was made on Tuesday 7th August following a night of protests in which three of Farmfood’s depots were blockaded by demonstrating farmers.

Yesterday, following discussions with Dairy Coalition representatives, supermarket group Iceland also agreed to investigate the development of an improved milk procurement model which better supports its farmer suppliers.

The protestors are demanding milk pricing models which factor cost of production into ex-farm payments; cuts proposed by a number of dairy processors, which were set to come into force at the beginning of the month, would have seen milk prices fall 5 pence per litre below cost of production for many farmers. Dairy Coalition groups are expected to publish a ‘forward plan’, which will identify further actions needed to ensure “milk buyers take responsibility for the future of dairy farming.”

Commenting yesterday, Peter Kendall, president of the NFU, which forms part of the dairy coalition, said, “The work of the coalition has only really just begun. We are determined to bring about real and lasting change. Just this week, two milk buyers have signalled intentions to deliver long term pricing models. We do not wish to dictate the exact details, but it is critical that milk pricing models deliver sustainable milk prices for farmers.”

Farmers for Action chairman David Handley added, “These businesses will be judged on their actions. Iceland has stated it has not derived any benefit from this year’s price cuts by milk processors. We have told Iceland it has an opportunity to show leadership by making a sustainable farm gate milk price a procurement specification. Milk buyers can’t go on shrugging their shoulders and refusing to take responsibility for the future of the dairy industry. We demand that buyers step up to the mark and do their bit to ensure a fair deal for farmers.”

Tomorrow’s meeting will be held at the NFU offices in Stoneleigh, Warwickshire.

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