Britain’s shoppers are being encouraged to get behind dairy farmers as plummeting checkout prices leave milk valued at less than some bottled water.
Turning to social media with the tag line #teamdairy, agricultural supporters have set about urging the public to sign an e-petition calling for farmers to be paid a minimum price for their milk.
To add weight to the campaign, which had amassed just under 10,000 signatures in 24 hours as The Courier went to press, farmers and industry players voiced increasing concern over dwindling producer numbers by sharing photographs of themselves sporting a ‘milk tash’ and drinking milk.
They hope the movement will see a rise in the number of shoppers buying British by choosing milk, cheese and yoghurts produced using UK milk.
The petition to Defra, which will be open on the UK Government’s website until March 30, says: “Many farmers are being driven into crisis as retailers slash the milk price further.
“This is to petition the Government to set a milk price payable to the farmer to protect their business, livelihood and the future of the industry.”
The outcry follows a seven-year low for milk values, with processors blaming an oversupply of milk and falling demand for dairy products across the world for falling prices.
Exacerbating the industry crisis was Friday’s announcement from British co-op First Milk that it is withholding £10 million of milk pay cheques from farmers until January 26 in a bid to keep its business alive.
On a consumer level, the focus of falling milk prices has honed in on the current retail value of a ‘four pinter’, with supermarket price wars dragging the cost down to just 89p this week in Asda, Aldi, Lidl and Iceland.
Shop in Tesco, Sainsbury’s and Waitrose and the same capacity bottle will now cost only £1 at the checkout a stark contrast to an average retail price of £1.39 last January.
While the supermarkets insist farmers are not paid less as a result of this form of discounting, which is instead carved out of profit margins, farmers believe that price warring has devalued milk as a commodity.
On an agricultural level, there is widespread recognition the ongoing First Milk saga has dumped the UK industry into crisis.
At the Perthshire round of NFU Scotland’s hustings at the Huntingtower Hotel on Monday, dairy farmer John Smith, of Drumalea Farm, said the UK’s milk market will only ever be “as strong as its weakest seller”, so all eyes are fixed on Glasgow-based First Milk.
“It’s time for new management,” said the vice-presidential candidate. “First Milk chief executive Kate Allum has to go.”
Meanwhile, a spokesman for the NFUS confirmed the union would be meeting in private with First Milk this week.
NFU Scotland wants to see European action to implement a “meaningful intervention level and export guarantees” to put a floor back under the market.
Speaking to delegates at the Semex conference in Glasgow, Gwynn Jones, chairman of the DairyCo sector board for AHDB, warned that the “challenging times” are set to continue well into this year.
He said it is high time the industry prepares for volatility being the “new normal”, particularly as milk is a commodity with a perishable nature.
“Right here, right now, in this period of immense pressure, we need to concentrate on supporting dairy farmers,” Mr Jones said.
He said short-term guidance will help farmers to work through the period of low prices, as well as set themselves up to profit from an improving situation in the future.
“Market volatility on the world stage is a reality, and our challenge is how we best manage it and become increasingly competitive to survive the downturns and profit from the upcycle,” said Mr Jones.
Scraping some positives from the bottom of the barrel of the current situation, independent dairy expert Ian Potter said: “If your ship is heading for rocks do you wait until it hits those rocks or take action to steer a different course?
“First Milk’s board has at least taken action and, if it didn’t, the business simply would have run out of cash, and soon. Some action is much better than no action.”
He said the current price war between supermarkets is “devastating”.
* The online milk price petition can be found at
http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/73628