Farmers drain supermarket shelves in milk price protest

Groups of dairy farmers have milked supermarket shelves dry across the country in a protest against falling prices.

Arla, Britain's biggest milk co-operative, has announced a price cut of 0.8 p per litre - taking the standard litre price to 23.01p for its UK members, prompting the protests.

Farmers say it costs between 30 and 32p to produce each litre of milk, according to British dairy organisation AHDB Dairy.

Dubbed the Milk Trolley Challenge, protesters remove all cartons of milk from shops including Morrisons and Lidl and either paid for it or dumped burdened trollies at the checkout.

Last week, a group of farmers emptied milk from supermarket shelves including Morrisons and Lidl in Yate, south Gloucestershire.

In a video of the protest, a woman says: "We're doing the Milk Trolley Challenge.

"This is due to the unfair milk price. We are clearing the shelves. Morrisons, you have been milked."

One protester shouts "too cheap, take it away" as the group loads cartons of milk into a line of trolleys in the store.

Further protests took place over the weekend, with shelves emptied at two Morrisons shops in Bude, Cornwall.

Protesters have been using Facebook to arrange Milk Trolley Challenges in Clitheroe in Lancashire and Cheshire.

Meurig Raymond, president of the NFU, said:

Protesters fill trolleys with milk in an unidentified Morrisons. Credit: SWNS

Figures published by AHDB Dairy show the average UK farmgate price was 24.06p per litre in May, a decrease of 25.4% of the amount paid to farmers in May last year.

A spokeswoman said: "Anecdotally, farmers are putting the costs of production at around 30/32 pence per litre, which demonstrates that for some, the price they receive will not cover what it costs them to produce the milk."

Darren Blackhurst, Morrisons Group Commercial Director, said reduced global demand had created an oversupply of British milk, creating "difficult conditions" for many dairy farmers.

A spokeswoman for Lidl said the supermarket worked closely with farm assurance schemes such as Red Tractor and RSPCA Freedom Food to champion British farming.