Scottish dairy farmers to exploit collective muscle

Speaking at a rally organised by National Farmers Union Scotland in Lanark yesterday, which was attended by about 500 farmers, rural affairs secretary Richard Lochhead announced £100,000 backing towards the ‘Dairy Farmers Together’ initiative.

The Scottish Agricultural Organisations Society will take forward this development, with the aim of supporting farmers to cooperate and negotiate collectively through the creation of local producer organisations.

Untenable situation​

Lochhead said: “It’s ludicrous that our dairy farmers are paid less than the cost of production for each and every pint of milk. Therefore I congratulate Scottish farmers for the dignified way in which they have carried out the campaign to highlight this untenable situation, which has captured the public’s imagination.​

“I fully support these efforts and believe the plans for collaboration can help underpin meaningful change. That’s why I’m announcing £100,000 to support this farmer-led initiative to be established as soon as possible.”​

Lochhead said that he had been in regular dialogue with the UK government and retailers to press for action over the situation, and that in recent days he had seen positive movement.

“However,”​ he added “the proof of the pudding will be in who gets the cream. We need meaningful and lasting change – not temporary measures.​

“The progress achieved in the campaign for a fair deal for dairy farmers is commendable. That momentum must be maintained and I’ll be doing all that I can to ensure that’s the case.​

“That includes exploring legislative changes, which we will be consulting on in the autumn. I am also writing to all public sector suppliers to ask that they ensure that appropriate and responsible milk sourcing is in place across the whole sector.”​

“All our hard working dairy farmers are asking for is their fair share to keep their businesses viable – and we need all parts of the supply chain to work together on this.”

Crisis meeting​

Last week Lochhead held talks with his counterparts from Westminster and the Welsh Assembly, Jim Paice and Alun Davies, ahead of a crisis meeting involving farmers representatives and the milk processors trade body Dairy UK.

That meeting reached heads of agreement intended to ensure there is a sustainable UK dairy industry in the future, and the full deal is intended to be fleshed out by the end of August.