Dairy farmers are owed more than £270 million – this is the figure produced as a result of the NFU’s Dairy Invoicing Campaign.
Hundreds of milk producers have so far joined the NFU’s campaign to highlight the growing threat to the UK milk supply as a consequence of the poor price they receive for their milk.
Each farmer completed an invoice showing the gap between the price they receive for their milk set against production costs –not taking into account rising costs of borrowing or growing regulatory burdens.
The campaign will culminate in a national launch along side the concrete cows in Milton Keynes today, Monday, at 11am.
NFU dairy board chairman Gwyn Jones said: “We chose this venue to publicise the amount owed to dairy farmers because unless something is done to reverse the downward price trend in the supply chain then these concrete cows may soon be the only ones left to see in the countryside.
“The campaign has revealed what we have known all along – that milk producers are being short-changed to the tune of £270m per year – this is the rising gap between what they are paid for their milk compared to how much it costs them to actually produce it.
“We want the recent suggestion made by John Lewis chairman Sir Stuart Hampson – that the UK may soon be importing milk - to be a wake-up call to the industry. We need a fair share of the profits made by supermarkets and processors passed back to farmers. There is hope – markets are strengthening, consumer demand is increasing and more than ever people are questioning the ethics of food sourcing by retail chains. But the message is clear - we need to value our milk producers or face losing them forever.”
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