Dairy farmers to protest over milk cuts
Muller Wiseman will cut milk prices by a further 1.9 pence per litre from November 1.
Dairy farmers hit by milk price cuts will protest tonight at the Muller Wiseman dairy plant in Shropshire.
Muller Wiseman is the latest processor to cut milk prices. From November 1 it will pay 27.1 pence per litre (ppl), a cut of 1.9 ppl.
In response, campaign group Farmers for Action (FFA) are planning a series of protests. The first blockade will take place from 8pm tonight at the Market Drayton Livestock Centre.
FFA chairman David Handley told the Shropshire Star: "This is a last resort, but we can’t negotiate with people who don’t want to talk.
"If the money wasn’t there for them to pay us a fair price then we would understand, but no-one has convinced us yet that there isn’t money."
In a statement, Muller referred to the campaigners as "militants" and urged them to "stop and think before inflicting further damage to an industry already under serve pressure from steep falls in the value of commodities like cream and butter."
Ronald Kers, chief executive at Muller UK and Ireland Group, said: "Dairy farmers have been breaking all-time records in terms of milk production and the prices received for their milk. Farms in the UK have increased production by more than 1 billion litres of milk this year…
"Unfortunately this extra milk coupled with weaker demand has affected farm-gate milk prices."
Defra has published guidance for the vet sector ahead of a proposed UK-EU Sanitary and Phytosanitary agreement.
