The ADPO (Association of Dairy Producer Organisations) has been established, giving a unified voice to farmers who are members of registered DPOs (Dairy Producer Organisations) across Great Britain.
Launched at UK Dairy Day, the association is the first of its kind in Great Britain and aims to support other dairy farmers seeking to formalise and professionalise their relationships with milk buyers.
Structured, effective and respectful dialogue between farmers and the dairy processing sector are essential for addressing shared challenges and delivering key priorities, such as the UK dairy roadmap and greenhouse gas emissions reduction. The ADPO will provide and enhance farmer another form of farmer representation outside the traditional co-operative structures, providing an important platform for producers supplying privately owned or FTSE listed milk buyers, a group that has historically been underrepresented.
New start
The NFU has long-lobbied for freely negotiated and fairly balanced contracts, securing new legislation – Fair Dealings Obligations (Milk) Regulations 2024 – which came into force in July 2024 to establish transparency and accountability across the dairy supply chain. . A key part of this lobbying has focused on strengthening the “farmer voice” in the supply chain, and supporting better representation to enable farmers to negotiate effectively with their milk buyer.
Welcoming the formation of the ADPO, NFU Dairy Board Chair Paul Tompkins recognised the formation of the group as a “new start for a significant proportion of the UK milk pool in how they can achieve effective representation”.
“It’s something that we’ve seen working across the Channel and envied for a number of years,” he continued. “The NFU has always been a been a supportive partner on this journey and will remain so moving forward.”
Constructive model for collaboration
ADPO Chair Rory Christie added: "Professionalising dairy farmer representation for those supplying private companies has been a long journey, but launching the ADPO is a significant and positive moment for our industry. We now have a robust governance framework capable of addressing the real-world challenges that dairy farmers and processors face together.
“Most importantly, this is a shared opportunity to understand what a successful, interdependent relationship should look like – and to build it, together."
Founding members of the ADPO
DCD (Davidstow Creamery Direct)
- Number of members: 272 members
- Approximate pooled volume: 600 million litres
- Key customer: Saputo Dairy UK
MMG Dairy Farmers
- Number of members: Approximately 1500 members
- Approximate pooled volume: 3.4 billion litres
- Key customer: Müller Milk & Ingredients
MSA (Milk Suppliers Association)
- Number of members: 97 dairy farmers
- Approximate pooled volume: 210 million litres
- Key customer: Lactalis (Stranraer)
Selkley Vale Milk Group
- Number of members: 80 members
- Approximate pooled volume: 130 million litres from 2026 to MDLZ, 15 million litres to Wyke Farms
- Key customer: Mondelez and Wyke Farms
