Today, outside the entrance of Tesco in Stroud, 15 farmers, Green Party

members and local cheese makers held banners and placards demanding

that Tesco takes a lead in ensuring British dairy farmers get a fair

price for milk. Over 500 leaflets were handed out to Tesco customers.

District, who helped organise the action said: “We must halt the

decline in smaller dairy farms, 40 farms a week are currently being

forced out of business (i). This protest is about persuading Tesco to

recognise that a sustainable dairy industry depends on a high number

and diversity of farmers, not just industrial-sized farms (ii).”

The protest is part of a national campaign initiated by FARM, the

independent voice of farmers and supported locally by the

Gloucestershire Green Party (iii). The leaflets include a postcard

addressed to Sir Terry Leahy, Chief Executive of Tesco, demanding that

Tesco, as market leader, uses its power to ensure that farmers receive

a fair share of the retail price.

Martin Whiteside, who is a District councillor for Thrupp and recently

visited the Godsell’s dairy farm, near Stroud, to learn at first hand

the problems facing farmers, 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 (iv). My work as an adviser to charities like

Christian Aid and Oxfam often brings me face to face with unfair trade

in developing countries.  It is shocking to see some of our biggest

companies practicing equally unfair trade in our own country - it has

to stop.”

Julia Currie, local farmer and local FARM co-ordinator of this action,

says “Tesco is immensely profitable – it’s said to get one in eight

pounds spent by UK shoppers. With this power comes a responsibility to

do right by the food producers, on whom its profits are based. If we

lose one in three dairy farms where will our fresh milk come from? (v)”

Local cheese maker, Jessica Hodge adds; “It’s not just fresh milk

either, we could lose English Butter, and all the regional cheeses like

Single and Double Gloucester and Wensleydale cheese. Consumers know

that the retail price does not need to increase – there is already

profit in the milk chain – all we are asking is for a fair share of

those profits to go to the farmer.”

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. Its not just

farmers who are being hammered – consumers are being conned too.”

Another local farmer, who wanted to remain anonymous said: “I support

FARM's campaign to make the public aware of the Dairy farmers' plight.

The message to Tesco is to pay dairy farmers a fair price and allow

them to make profits to re-invest in the business, which is not

happening at the present time. (vi)”

Notes to the Editor:

(i) In 1998 there were 36,700 dairy producers in the UK; in 2003 there

were 26,600. That’s over 10,000 lost in just 5 years – 2,020 a year,

c.40 a week. [From www.mdcdatum.org.uk]

(ii) To stay in business, dairy farmers are being forced to intensify

by increasing herd sizes. On 22nd October 2004, environment minister

Elliot Morley accused intensive dairy farming of having the

‘biodiversity capacity of green concrete’. Small farms are known to

provide diverse habitats for wildlife. Intensification also leads to

the loss of rural employment - small farms provide up to five times

more jobs per acre than big farms, Larger herd sizes also put Britain’s

high animal welfare standards at risk. Tom Latter from Pembrokeshire

says “Animal health and welfare standards are bound to be compromised

when fewer people are expected to look after many more animals.”

(iii) Actions will be taking place all over the country up until

Christmas. So far, 10,000 requests for Just Milk campaign action packs

have been made by members of the public and the farming community, with

over 30,000 postcards distributed. On Saturday 4th December along with

Quedgeley and Stroud actions will take place in Devon (South),

Dumfries, London and Pembrokeshire. Actions have already taken place in

Devon (South), London, Lincolnshire, London, Kent and Shropshire and

are planned in Cheshire, Devon (North), Devon (East), East Sussex,

Essex, Inverness-shire, Manchester, North Wales and  Oxfordshire.

(iv) In the last decade, the average retail price for a litre of milk

has risen from 41 to 48 pence. But in the same period the price the

farmer gets has fallen from 24 to 18 pence [From www.mdcdatum.org.uk

and Office of National Statistics]. In response to the Just Milk

campaign and to concerns from consumers over the price Tesco pays to

its dairy farmers, Tesco has defended itself by claiming that it sells

its milk for just three pence more than the price it buys it at.

However, industry research shows that the average margin for retailers

on milk is nearer 12 pence per litre (from MDC Datum figures), sparking

FARM to challenge Tesco to publish its figures to show the price it

pays to its dairy farmers in order to prove that it is not misleading

consumers. The letter goes on to say “When we [Tesco] buy for less, we

sell for less.” This too seems to be contradicted by research from the

Milk Development Council, which states that in the last decade,

supermarket margins have improved by eight to ten pence per litre but

farmgate prices have fallen by around six pence per litre. Today,

Britain’s dairy farmers are paid less for their milk than they were 20

years ago but this hasn’t translated into a price fall for consumers.

(v) The Government says it ‘has no view’ on the number of dairy it

thinks the country needs. In a meeting of the committee of public

accounts concerning ‘helping farm businesses in England’ (13 October

2004), Sir Brian Bender, permanent secretary at DEFRA said the

following "...the Government has no view about the number of dairy

farmers, the number of beef farmers and so on. The Government has a

view that it wishes to have sustainability, a sustainable farming

industry, and it wishes to have vibrant rural communities, but the

number of farmers in a particular sector is not an issue the Government

has a view on."

(vi) A Parliamentary Select Committee report, recently found that for

the past seven years the average earnings of a dairy farmer has been

just £2.90 an hour.