Moo joins farmers in protest (From Stroud News and Journal)

Moo joins farmers in protest

FARMERS showed they would not be cowed by market forces on Saturday when they gathered outside a Stroud supermarket to protest about the price of milk.

The dairy farmers and cheese producers were supported by members of the Gloucestershire Green Party and cow-suited campaigner Steve Penny as they launched their demonstration outside Tesco.

More than 500 leaflets were handed out to customers highlighting the raw deal farmers believe they are getting.

Stroud dairy farmer, Rye Godsell said: "When as many as 40 dairy farms are going out of business every week, we want to see a commitment from Tesco that its criteria includes a fair return on the farmer's time and investment.

"A fair price for farmers would help to stop the loss of so many dairy herds with all the negative implications that would entail to the environment, wildlife and rural communities."

Martin Whiteside, district councillor for Thrupp and the Green's parliamentary hopeful in next year's election, said: "Today, Britain's dairy farmers get paid less money for their milk than they did 20 years ago.

"Unfortunately, this hasn't meant a fall in price for British shoppers. "In the last decade, the average retail price for a litre of milk has risen seven pence to 48p whilst the price the farmer gets has fallen by six pence to 18p."

Mr Penny, dressed as Moo the Cow, said: "Pressure on small farmers means the amount of milk cows produce has gone up from 5,000 to 10,000 per year. "We want fair pay for farmers."

Jonathan Church a spokesman for Tesco accepted the dairy industry was having a tough time but did not accept the supermarket was responsible.

He said Tesco could not dictate to the dairies how much was paid to the farmers but had taken steps to ensure it got as much milk as it could from those who gave the best deal to the producers.

"People overestimate the influence of the supermarkets in the milk market," he said.

"We are one step removed as we buy ready to drink milk not the raw material from the farmers."

He argued that Tesco played its part by buying all its milk from British producers and supporting the more generous dairies.