Dairy farmers now working at a loss

News Uncut's farming series

By Venetia Carpenter

I JUST have to keep asking the same question:  are the supermarkets answerable to anyone? They certainly do not appear to be. 

If we look at the UK dairy industry, after going through “the middle men”, the processors with whom most dairy farmers have contracts, 90 per cent of all milk sold in the UK is sold by the supermarkets. This, of course, gives supermarkets huge control over the quality and pricing of our milk.

I’m told that the supermarkets are keen to keep their purchase prices low to ensure themselves a good profit margin at the expense sometimes of the processors and, it seems, always at the expense of the farmers. 

I have also been told that milk producers who decide to go into retailing now – that is selling some of their milk direct to the public rather than to wholesale outlets – are only permitted to do direct sales of up to 1,000 litres per day. I am happy to be corrected but this feels like a restraint of trade to me.