We're ready to cut off milk supply, farmers warn
Dairy producers threaten supermarket blockade unless price cuts are reversed by end of month
,
Martin Hickman
Following stints with Reuters and the Press Association, Martin Hickman joined The Independent as a news editor in 2001. He became the Consumer Affairs Correspondent in September 2005 and has run the paper's trenchant campaigns on packaging, bank charges and factory-farmed chicken. He writes on subjects as diverse as food, finance, energy and fashion. With Tom Watson, he is author of a new book on the phone hacking scandal, Dial M for Murdoch - News Corporation and the Corruption of Britain.
Friday 20 July 2012
Related articles
Supermarkets have been called to a Government summit over plummeting milk prices as dairy farmers threaten to bring supplies to a standstill and blockade stores.
As the dispute escalated yesterday, the chefs Jamie Oliver and Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall called for shoppers to boycott grocers who pay below the cost of production.
Mr Fearnley-Whittingstall told The Independent: "Those who want to make a statement in favour of dairy farmers should stop shopping at Asda, Co-op and Morrisons."
Last night hundreds of farmers using tractors blockaded milk processing plants in Somerset and Leicestershire.
The blockades at a Robert Wiseman plant and a Morrisons distribution centre near Bridgewater, Somerset, and outside an Arla plant in Ashby-be-la-Zouch, Leicestershire, involved more than 950 farmers, campaigners from the protest group Farmers for Action said. Protests and demonstrations were also reported in Leeds and Kent.
Supermarkets yesterday said the chefs should be attacking others who paid less for milk, such as food manufacturers.
Unless dairy processors reverse price cuts of 14 per cent imposed this summer by 1 August, farmers say they will destroy milk and blockade stores.Nigel Batten, a member of Farmers for Action, said: "These are peaceful protests but an ultimatum has already been issued that, if the milk price is not reinstated, we would be cutting off the milk supply. We feel we have got enough consumer and farming support to bring the milk supply to a standstill."
Processors Arla Foods have cut farmgate prices by 2p per litre (ppl), Robert Wiseman Dairies and First Milk by 1.7ppl and Dairy Crest by 1.65ppl, on top of 2ppl cuts earlier.
Farmers say the dairies have slashed their margins for supplying grocers. Marks & Spencer, Waitrose, Sainsbury's and Tesco pay a premium above the farmgate price. Others supermarkets pay premiums below the 30ppl it costs to produce milk.
In an attempt to break the deadlock, the Farming minister, James Paice, has invited supermarkets to a meeting. A spokesman for the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs said: "He will be bringing in the supermarkets on Wednesday to see what more the supermarkets can do to support the industry."
Defra has been talking to dairies about establishing a code of practice that would allow farmers to walk away from contracts at short notice. Mr Paice said: "Government cannot and should not set prices but I will do everything in my power to get all levels of the supply chain to make the real changes needed to guarantee the industry's long-term future."
Mr Fearnley-Whittingstall said: "The culprits are mainly Morrisons, Asda – and the Co-op. What we are seeing is bully-boy tactics on price ."
Morrisons said: "We are curious why Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall hasn't recommended boycotting users of milk outside the supermarkets who pay no subsidy whatsoever to farmers for milk."
Life & Style blogs
London renters are getting poorer and moving further out
Plus, do energy saving measures boost house prices?
London Collections: Men – Sporting, suiting, and the great in-between
The spring menswear season has only just begun, but I've already started to get deep and meaningful....
- 1 Diary of Second World War German teenager reveals young lives untroubled by Nazi Holocaust in wartime Berlin
- 2 Bosses of collapsed banks should be sent to jail, George Osborne told
- 3 Breaking the Silence: In the reality of occupation, there are no Palestinian civilians – only potential terrorists
- 4 Uri Geller psychic spy? The spoon-bender's secret life as a Mossad and CIA agent revealed
- 5 Vice pulls 'breathtakingly tasteless' fashion shoot glorifying the suicides of famous female authors from Sylvia Plath to Virginia Woolf
Get your summer started with British Military Fitness
BMF is the UK’s biggest and best loved outdoor fitness classes
How will you make today delicious?
Tell us how you plan to make today delicious and you could win a £50 M&S gift card.
Learn a new language
Add another string to your bow with Rosetta Stone, whether it's Spanish, Italian or Mandarin...
Making reading fun for kids
Nook is donating eReaders to volunteers at high-need schools and participating in exclusive events throughout the campaign.
Introducing the 'Get Reading' campaign
Get the latest on The Evening Standard's campaign to get London's children reading.
Enter the latest Independent competitions
Win anything from gadgets to five-star holidays on our competitions and offers page.
Business videos from commercial thought leaders
Watch the best in the business world give their insights into the world of business.
iJobs Food & Drink
Graduate Trainee – Recruitment Consultant
£20,000 - £45,000 OTE: Co-Venture: Working for this company will give you a ch...
Associate/Director of Transport
£40000 - £60000 Per Annum: The Green Recruitment Company: The Green Recruitmen...
Travel Sales Consultant
£18000 - £35000 per annum + Award-Winning Benefits & Uncapped Comm: Flight Cen...
Cruise Ship SEASONAL Work
Negotiable: Capita Education Resourcing Permanent Team: Cruise Ship Seasonal W...
First night: The Cripple of Inishmaan
Scandi-geeks descend on Nordicana for fan-convention
Female aristocrats battle to inherit the title





Comments