Milk prices have fallen rapidly over the past six months.

NFU welcomed 'reassuring' dairy roundtable meeting

At a dairy roundtable this week (February 11), farming minister George Eustice said Defra has asked HMRC to show leniency to dairy farmers in light of unstable milk prices.

Commenting on the outcomes of the meeting, which was led by Defra's secretary of state, Liz Truss, he said: "We clarified the range of support available for dairy farmers to deal with the current volatility.

"Representatives from UK banks outlined the help they are providing to their customers who are dairy farmers, and we have asked HMRC to take a sympathetic stance with dairy farmers during this period. We have also asked the Rural Payments Agency to prioritise dairy farmers when administering farm payments."

Milk prices have fallen rapidly over the past six months, which is partly due to a Russian trade ban with the EU and a reduced demand from China. As a result, 60 UK farmers left the business in December 2014 alone, and for the first time, producer numbers have dropped below 10,000.

Mr Eustice also outlined Defra's intention to build upon the dairy code of practice by encouraging more processors to sign up. At the meeting, attendees agreed to the creation of a new industry-led group to explore a review of the code.

“We want a competitive and resilient dairy industry that can take advantage of the growing demand for British produce," he added.

"That is why the industry also today agreed to work together to develop actions to end the current trade deficit in dairy products and increase exports. This is on top of the work we are already doing to push for better country of origin labelling on dairy products, and opening new export markets."

The National Farmers Union welcomed pledges made during the meeting. President Meurig Raymond said: "The Secretary of State made clear that she will take forward many of our demands for immediate help such as looking at any overdue single payment scheme payments and the ability to stagger tax payments and support from banks…

"It was reassuring that everyone around the table today - government, retailers, processors and banks - showed commitment and a desire to back British dairy farmers. What we need to see now is action to help those farmers through this difficult period."