UK Dairy Farmers Demand Better Base Price From Major Processor
Farmers for Action (FFA), a group of dairy farmers in the United Kingdom, have capped a summer-long campaign by issuing an October deadline for food processor Muller UK to offer competitive milk prices. FFA set the deadline with the approaching winter in mind, claiming that without pricing adjustments, their members will struggle to remain solvent through the season. The two sides began negotiating after FFA staged several blockades of Muller's processing plant in the small town of Market Drayton. BBC News offers an update on the situation.
A spokesman for Muller, which also owns Robert Wiseman Dairies, said, "We believe that it is time to start to move on from what has been a very difficult period for the dairy supply chain and we welcome discussion which helps to achieve this end."
David Handley, from Farmers For Action, described the meeting as positive, but added "the proof of the pudding will be when they deliver a sustainable milk price to dairy farmers."
