FOR many dairy farmers making ends meet is difficult enough.

Now, in the face of sharp falls in the price of milk, resulting in many dairy farmers struggling to survive and putting others out of business, MPs say they need even greater protection.

The Parliamentary Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Efra) Committee recently urged the Government to extend the Groceries Code Adjudicator's (GCA) remit to include dairy farmers in the scheme, which covers suppliers to the big supermarkets and retailers.

MPs also called for ministers to help dairy farmers tap into worldwide export opportunities and press for clearer "country-of-origin" labelling so that consumers know if they really are buying British, and for an EU review of the protection against very low prices.

The committee's chairman, Anne McIntosh, says: "The volatility of worldwide and domestic milk markets is making financial planning and investment impossible for small -scale producers unable to hedge against changes beyond their control.

"The vast majority of dairy farmers fall outside the protection offered by the Groceries Code Adjudicator.

"She can only investigate complaints involving direct suppliers to the big 10 supermarkets and retailers, and as most milk production is small-scale, that excludes dairy farmers.

"The Efra committee thought that was wrong when the GCA was set up in 2013, and events since then justify our view that her remit should be extended to include small-scale suppliers, whether or not they have a direct relationship with the ultimate seller of their produce."

The NFU (National Farmers Union) has fully endorsed the House of Commons' Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (EFRA) Committee report on dairy prices.

NFU dairy board chairman, Rob Harrison, who gave evidence to the Committee, says: "We are all aware of the short term issues currently facing the UK dairy sector and the implications for dairy farmers. While none of these recommendations are new, I do believe that Defra now needs to deliver on these actions to help ensure a fairer, more sustainable dairy industry going forward.

"There are obviously short and long term recommendations and I'm glad to see that the EFRA Committee took into account our views in their report. Top of the agenda is a push for a review of the EU intervention price for dairy products - I'm glad that Committee members agreed with me that 17ppl is not a safety net of any sort and this could help the current dairy situation immediately.

"Longer term I agree that we need to develop an improved dairy export strategy which will help access new markets in future. This is of utmost importance when we look at where future demand for dairy will be from. In turn dairy products sold domestically and into export markets need to be correctly labelled with their country of origin. The NFU fully supports mandatory country of origin labelling on dairy products.

"I'm also pleased that the Committee has recognised the role of the dairy industry Code of Best Practice - something the NFU alongside NFUS and Dairy UK worked hard to put in place. We will work with our industry partners to ensure this remains suitable going forward. Alongside this is a need to increase the bargaining power and influence of farmers, many of which remain as price takers in the UK dairy sector. The NFU, like EFRA, would encourage more farmers to collaborate, for example through producer groups.

"Finally, I'm extremely encouraged by the focus in EFRA's report on the role of the Groceries Code Adjudicator. The NFU has always believed that the GCA's remit should be extended to cover primary producers and I'm glad to see that EFRA believes that the code needs extending to include small scale producers.

John Gullett, a retired dairy farmer from Shelf and former NFU local branch chairman and West Riding branch chairman, says: "It is a difficult situation. The immediate problem is, forgetting for a minute the various reasons, there is an over supply of milk and I think there is a good opening if it could be exploited for more British milk to be used in the manufacture of butter and cheese because a lot are still imported but it will not happen overnight."

He says the price dairy farmers would need to receive to break even and cover their running costs, feed etc, would be 29 or 30 pence per litre but he says that wouldn't cover future investment.

"I think it is awful at present for some of them, but as far as I can see it can only gradually get better and I sincerely hope it does," adds John.

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