By Anna Burdett

Last updated at 12:21, Friday, 03 August 2012

Some of the NFU’s big hitters will be in Cumbria next week for a meeting to decide the next step in the campaign to improve milk prices paid to farmers.

After weeks of unrest, dairy processors and supermarkets backed down on price cuts planned for August.

This was one of the key goals of a dairy coalition made up of the NFU, the Tenant Farmers’ Association and Farmers for Action.

But Cumbria’s dairy representative Cathryn Pritt, of Thornbank Farms in Gosforth, near Seascale, says the rescinded price cuts are only the start.

“More work still needs to be done if we are to deliver a sustainable milk price across the whole industry, not just those supplying the liquid milk sector,” she said.

“We’ve seen an agreement reached on the framework for the Voluntary Code of Practice, which will underpin the contractual relationship between farmers and dairies, but it’s very early days.”

Tuesday’s meeting at the Shepherds Inn, next to Borderway Mart in Carlisle, is called #SOS Dairy, after the Twitter tag that was for many days one of the most followed in the county. It will start at 7.30pm and feature speakers including NFU dairy board chairman Mansel Raymond and chief dairy adviser Robert Newbery.

They will update dairy farmers on the next steps in securing a fair milk price. Members of the dairy coalition have vowed to keep up the pressure on retailers and other large buyers of milk.

Speaking after a dairy coalition meeting on Tuesday, NFU president Peter Kendall said priorities included finalising the detail on the contractual code of best practice between farmers and processors; putting more pressure on processors and retailers who still aren’t paying a ‘fair’ price and ensuring more money makes its way down the supply chain to farmers.

Mr Kendall added: “Rest assured, we will continue to name and shame retailers and other buyers of milk that do not pay their dairy farmers a price for milk that meets the cost of production.”

First published at 11:28, Friday, 03 August 2012
Published by http://www.newsandstar.co.uk