Asda milk move to stop the rot - NFU

The decision by the supermarket group ASDA to follow other leading multiples in raising liquid milk prices has been welcomed by the NFU.

Gwyn Jones, chairman of the NFU's dairy board, said: "We're relieved that Asda has taken this common sense decision to increase liquid milk prices at a time of considerable difficulty in the market, witnessed most recently by Dairy Crest's price cut yesterday. Now it is up to the remaining supermarkets to restore their prices to a sensible level.

"It serves no-one's long-term interest – least of all consumers' – to be continually draining value out of the milk market and putting the future of the sector at risk.

"The milk market is still under pressure on a range of fronts and we still face huge challenges in turning the sector round from the brink, but this is a move in the right direction."