Farmers warn of protests in milk price crisis

FARMERS have not ruled out the possibility of continued protests against other supermarkets after Morrisons announced the premium from a new milk brand will go directly to the dairy industry.

The supermarket chain has been one of the main targets for frustrated farmers who have stripped milk from the shelves before dumping it or giving it away for free.

The product will be launched in October and will be sold at a 10p per litre premium to the standard Morrison’s price.

David Handley, of Farmers For Action, said that although direct action would no longer be taken against Morrisons, it would be maintained against other supermarkets.

Mr Handley, who has helped orchestrate protests which have seen cows invading supermarket dairy aisles up and down the country, said Morrisons’ “small step” was welcome but added: “You will see activity continuing and we’ll try and put a few new twists in it.

Leaders from the crisishit industry met Morrisons bosses in an attempt to tackle falling milk prices which, the National Farmers Union (NFU) says, will lead to dairy farmers being forced to leave the industry in the next few weeks.

Afterwards the supermarket’s corporate services director Martyn Jones said: “We will be launching a milk brand that allows customers to pay a little more if they want to support British farmers.”

He added that all of the premium would go back to the farmers that supplied its processor, Arla.

“Consumers can choose whether they want to pay more to support British dairy. A recent survey found that more than half of customers said they would be willing to do so,” he said.

The four main farming unions, NFU, NFU Cymru, NFU Scotland and Ulster Farmers Union, held an emergency summit in London on Monday to develop an action plan to tackle falling milk, lamb and arable prices.

Farmers estimate that it costs between 30 and 32p to produce a litre of milk but the average price paid across the UK is 23.66p following a drop of 25% in a year.

Tesco and Sainsburys have so far ruled out a similar move to Morrisons’.