Rob Harrison, NFU dairy chairman along with his compatriots from the UFU, NFUS and NFU Cymru also called on the Minister to press the difficulties in the industry with the banks and allied industries. Mr Eustice ensured that Defra is working closely with the RPA to ensure quick payment of the EU dairy crisis fund.
Rob Harrison said: “In Europe we called on the Minister to further investigate the utilisation of the European Investment Bank to support farmers and processors in the UK as well as pushing for action on the High Level Group on Risk Management. We also want to ensure that EU dairy market management measures are fit for purpose, including a review of the EU intervention scheme.”
“Closer to home, it’s good news that Defra is planning to improve procurement policies within Government departments and is investigating dairy procurement at retail. On supply chain issues all the farming unions were agreed that we need to reactivate the voluntary code of conduct on contracts and encourage more farmers collaboration through producer groups and producer organisations. On a wider scale we also called for the Groceries Code Adjudicator to be given more power to investigate further than the ten largest UK retailers.”