Disagreements over whether dairy producers should be producing more milk for the market provoked angry clashes between farmers and the AHDB Dairy chairman Gwyn Jones at the South West Dairy Show.
Farmers for Action (FFA) chairman David Handley said he was shocked to see last week that dairy production was rising and questioned why farmers were still producing milk when there was no market for it.
Mr Handley told the Farmers Guardian/Dairy Farmer Great Milk Debate the issue of volume had to be addressed and farmers had to look at what the market demanded.
But Mr Jones said he was concerned farmers in Holland, Denmark and Ireland were all producing more milk, due to additional investment in processing capacity, and that UK farmers needed to fight for market share.
Mr Jones said dairy producers were extremely well placed to compete on the EU and world markets because of the UK climate, farm size and farm structure. It was vital to develop a more integrated supply chain as the sector moved forward, he added.
Mr Handley welcomed the support over the past two months from YFC, the NFU, Tenant Farmers Association, the Royal Association of British Dairy Farmers and others in the battle to boost milk prices but said more work was needed to encourage retailers and the food service sector, who were still dragging their feet.
In a thinly veiled warning to retailers, he said further direct action may take place in the run up to Christmas to address the supply chain imbalance as dairy farmers were still taking all the strain.
“We may need to push more if people do not come up to the plate,” said Mr Handley.
A further meeting between the FFA and the NFU is planned for October 23.
NFU dairy board chairman Rob Harrison said he had seen the first green shoots of recovery after 12 months of pain with better prices seen in the past four global trade auctions, although he was concerned about the oversupply in the UK cheese market.
Looking to the future, Mr Harrison said farmers needed to have more selling choices – both in the fixed and futures markets.
Source: FGinsight
