05 Jan 2011

The NFU has today praised Dairy Crest Direct’s (DCD) milk price target of 27ppl for the New Year.

NFU dairy board chairman Mansel Raymond said: “Dairy Crest Direct is showing real leadership to the farmers it represents in publically launching a challenge to Dairy Crest and making a strong case for an immediate milk price increase. DCD’s New Year’s milk price target sends a very clear message to the company that farmers are dissatisfied, and that unless things improve there will be rapid consequences with a marked fall in producers and production.

“Until now I have been concerned at the lack of any visible or public challenge to milk buyers at the current milk price situation by any farmer representative. Having met with a large number of dairy farmers across the country over the past few months I know that dairy farmers, at times, lack confidence in the strength of their milk buyer representatives and are not clear about the level of negotiation or discussion that is taking place on their behalf.

“I appreciate that dairy farmer representatives have to balance the need to maintain a good relationship with senior company executives with representing the expectations and interests of their fellow farmer suppliers. However, farmer representatives are there to promote and defend the interests of dairy farmers supplying a dairy company; to communicate clearly and honestly with dairy farmers and to apply pressure to milk buyers to bring about change.

“I look forward to seeing other farmer representatives follow DCD’s lead in challenging milk buyers on behalf of the suppliers they represent. Let’s have a collective New Year’s message to milk buyers - farm gate milk prices should be going up.”