The NFU has been working with other EU farm groups to secure backing for the UK dairy industry in the face of the Russian food ban, but the union's Dairy Board chair has stressed there is more to do.

European farmers have managed to convince the European Commission to include some appropriate cheese products in the new private storage packages announced last week. The private storage aid, alongside an extension of European promotional budgets for dairy products, aim to help farmers in affected sectors cope with the impacts of the Russian import ban.

NFU dairy board chair Rob Harrison commented on Wednesday, "The NFU and Copa lobbied hard for cheese, not limited to protected geographical designations, to be included in the European Commission private storage aid package."

"I am pleased that we have been successful, which we hope will restore some confidence to processors, with the option to store, rather than having to sell cheese, powdered milk and butter into distressed markets in the short term. However we do recognise that placing these products into storage presents potential future problems when they do inevitably hit the market."

Harrison said that the NFU has been urging the Commission and Defra to explore options for promoting cheese on domestic markets and abroad "to soften the impact of releasing stored dairy products."