The Ulster Farmers’ Union’s dairy chair Mervyn Gordon has delivered a scathing indictment of dairy processors, accusing them of “short-changing” and “frustrating” farmers over the past year.

“Dairy processors have refused to engage on prices, citing the threat of a no-deal Brexit as their priority.

“Dairy farmers, however, feel short-changed. Last month, two processors cut the base milk price by 0.25p/l. This was unjustified.

“Pressed to explain it, one said they needed to make 'savings'. The savings achieved were £150,000 on sales of £15m – a gain of one per cent, but only achieved at an enormous cost in terms of supplier goodwill,” said Gordon.

Frustrating

He stated that it had been a very frustrating year for farmers with Northern Ireland receiving the second-lowest milk price in the EU.

As the Winter Fair approached, he said that farmers and their concerns needed to be heard at the event.

Co-ops told to ‘stop dragging their heels’ on milk price

Production costs averaging 28p/l on NI dairy farms

Processors deliver ‘frustrating’ year to farmers – UFU

Farmers in the North of Ireland have been failed by their processors, the UFU has said.