News that dairy giant Muller are to slash the price paid to their farmers by 1.5p per litre has seen one farming union receive calls from angry farmers.
Muller has announced a January 2018 milk price decrease by 1.5p per litre to 29p.
The decline in price to its 700 Muller Direct suppliers comes amid a drop in the value of cream and butter in the UK over the last three months.
NFU Scotland said the scale of the price drop is "hugely disappointing "for Muller direct suppliers and could open the door for other milk processors to follow suit.
UK farming unions will now approach Muller with an urgent request for a joint face-to-face meeting in the next few days.
NFU Scotland Vice President Gary Mitchell said Muller has set an "appalling precedent", and farmers are now "left to pay the price".
“At the first sign of cream and butter prices softening from what are historical highs, Muller has jumped at the opportunity to slash the price it pays to producers to shore up its own profits. Yet, when cream prices surged, it took Muller many months to return an extra 1.5p per litre to their suppliers,” Mr Mitchell said.
“Despite watching all dairy farmers in 2016 endure the lowest milk prices for a generation, Muller and others were slow to lift prices when the markets rose, arguing that their cautious approach was to avoid over production. Now, Muller has dropped the price like a stone at the first opportunity.
“The reality is that November butter and cream prices of £4500 and £2100 per tonne respectively, while dipping from the highs of the summer, are still thousands of pounds per tonne higher than the trough seen in spring 2016.”
'Walking away from dairy'.
Mr Mitchell said actions like that taken by Muller risks more farmers walking away from dairying.
NFU Scotland’s Milk Policy Manager George Jamieson added the problems run deeper than this price cut. He said there has been a lack of "genuine collaboration" within the dairy supply chain for several years.
“The problem is not just volatility and asymmetric pricing, but poor value transfer down the chain by retailers and processors. The good times for dairy farmers are neither long enough nor good enough to compensate for bad times,” Mr Jamieson said.
“NFUS is fully aware that we can’t buck the market. Global supply and demand is out with our control and drives UK prices, but farm gate milk price should not be the safety valve for processors and end users to sustain their margins.
“Given the way that Muller suppliers and its producer board have been ignored, there is an urgent need for them to consider the benefits of a properly constituted, professional Dairy Producer Organisation.”
Many dairy farmers across Scotland, including all Muller producers, face a high cost winter where they are short of forage with soaring feed and bedding bills.
NFU Scotland said "no dairy farmer" will have seen their bank account recover from the dairy crisis in 2016.
