Farmers stage protest at low milk prices

She added: “CAFRE dairy advisors are on the ground and will continue to support individual farmers by providing valuable support on improving technical efficiency and business performance”. Maybe the fact that I don’t come from a farming background myself helps me to look at the current position of the dairy industry from a slightly different slant.

“We’ve tried going to authorities about this but we’ve got nowhere, so this is what we’ve been forced to do”.

“People were standing there filming us on their phones”.

“It was refreshing to see retailers competing over the fairest deal for farmers rather than who can devalue milk the most, and we desperately need that sort of commitment again.

By coming together and working as one I hope we can co-ordinate activity on several key action points which will not only benefit Welsh farmers but farmers from across the UK”.

Police said the incident in Yate had been a peaceful protest and that no crime had been committed. “Officers attended merely to keep the peace and to ensure no offences were detected”. The manager in Morrisons refused to comment but the public perception was good and people are finally realising how low the milk prices actually are.

“We picked Preston first because it used to have a cattle market but doesn’t anymore, and that’s a sign of the times. It might not be long before Scottish farmers start to take action themselves”.

Protesters angry at the decreasing price dairy farmers are receiving for their milk descended on the Asda store in South Wye just after 7pm. Someone who works in the dairy industry has told us with “One hundred per cent certainty” that milk is being brought in from Germany at 10 pence a litre to a particular large dairy company in the area.

An Arla spokesman said: “Arla is owned by 13,500 dairy farmers, 3,000 of whom are British”.

Speaking after the meeting at Department of Agriculture and Rural Development headquarters at Stormont, the minister said: “This is a global crisis caused by a range of worldwide market and exchange rate factors”.

Figures published by farmers’ group AHDB Dairy show the average UK price was 24.06p per litre in May, a decrease of 25.4% on the amount paid to farmers in May past year.

Dairy farmers held demonstrations in stores in Ayr and Kilmarnock and across England when they have bought up milk and given it free to customers and local charities. Please like and share this video to spread the word and increase support for the campaign for fairer milk prices.

A spokeswoman for Lidl said: “Our cost prices are in no way linked to our retail prices and any reductions in retail prices are absorbed by Lidl”.

“The strong pound is closing out the euro market and we have the Russian ban on EU produce”.

NFU President Meurig Raymond said: “The situation many of our members are experiencing has become a crisis”.

Lidl added: “As a responsible retailer, we work very closely with farm assurance schemes such as Red Tractor and RSPCA Freedom Food, which heavily champion British farming”.

“Given the current situation some farmers have been driven to take direct action; the NFU supports protests that have a proper target and a clear objective”.