Blockade threat over milk price cut

Jul 14 2012

Farmers could stage a 48-hour tanker blockade in protest over cuts to milk prices, a lobby group has warned.

Scottish dairy farmers are preparing to stage the blockade after August 1, the deadline for the introduction of a cut in the price paid to producers per litre of milk, Farmers for Action said.

The group said the action will go ahead unless plans for a 2p price cut are dropped by the major milk processors.

Dairy farmers are angry at the latest round of cuts to prices, which come on top of similar cuts in the spring.

They say the move will force many farmers out of business, pushing up the price of milk for consumers in the long term.

A spokesman for the FFA told the Herald newspaper: "The plan is to blockade the tankers. A tanker will go to a farm from a processor, fill up with milk, and find he will be unable to leave the farm.

"We will hold it up for 48 hours. If the milk has to be dumped, so be it.

"There are 1,000 dairy farmers in Scotland. You won`t find one that is against it. No milk will go out."

Plans for a blockade follow a protest at Westminster last week attended by 2,500 farmers from across the UK.

Meanwhile Rural Affairs Secretary Richard Lochhead has called for a summit meeting with UK and Welsh colleagues to find ways to better support Scotland's dairy farmers.