New measures crucial to save dairy industry

Greens today stressed the need for a tougher regulation of the supply chain following reports that Wiseman's are to reduce the amount that they pay dairy farmers for milk. Scottish dairy farms are already struggling to survive because farmers are often paid below the cost of production for liquid milk. Hundreds of dairy farms have closed in recent years. According to the NFUS, a cut of nearly one pence will take effect from August 1, despite Wiseman's healthy profits.

Shiona Baird MSP, Green speaker on enterprise and a former farmer, said, "I'm sure that most consumers would be horrified to hear that companies are cutting payments to farmers whilst reaping healthy profits, without so much as a second thought for producers. The long-term future of the industry will not be secured if farms keep closing and production of such a basic, perishable foodstuff becomes concentrated in fewer and fewer hands. Finnie recently indicated he may support measures other than the notoriously ineffective Code of Practice - but he needs to go much further than offering words alone if we are to see Scottish farmers dealt a fair hand."