Midlands farmers join rally to halt milk price cuts

Farmers from across Staffordshire were travelling to London today to protest against further cuts to the price they are paid for milk.

A coach will take tenants from Staffordshire County Council's County Farm Estate to the national rally. As many as 1,500 farmers from across Britain are expected at the crisis summit.

The county farm estate includes more than 100 farms covering around 8,600 acres and 75 per cent of the land is given over to dairy farming.

Councillor Mark Winnington, the county's environment boss, is attending the rally and has called for action to stop milk processors bringing in further price cuts.

"Farmers across Staffordshire are finding these cuts absolutely crippling," he said. "Our estate farmers produce around 50 million litres of milk per year, which would equate to a £2 million loss in annual income if this further price drop goes ahead on August 1.

"Clearly this is just not sustainable and action needs to be taken to stop the milk processing companies from implementing these cuts."

It comes after milk processors Robert Wiseman Dairies, Arla Foods UK and Dairy Crest announced fresh cuts of up to two pence per litre from August 1 – on top of cuts announced earlier in the year. They blame deterioration in commodity markets and cream prices.

NFU leaders have demanded a reversal of all of the cuts and are asking the Government to consider regulation to make prices fairer.

Councillor Winnington, a former dairy farmer, said some farmers face getting paid less than 25p per litre, which is less than it costs to produce a litre of milk.

He added: "We are extremely concerned about the effect this will have not only on our own tenants and the wider dairy industry, but on the impact it will have on the whole rural economy here in Staffordshire."

By Harry Gottschalk