United dairy farmers' association proposal moves forward
A commitment for change has been signed by a large number of dairy farmers at a rally in Lanark to support a proposed united dairy farmers' association in the UK.
The association, called Dairy Farmer's Together, would aim to achieve fair milk prices and improve the effectiveness of existing producer representative bodies for both individual dairy farmers and groups of producers.
So far the Scottish Government has committed £100,000 to developing the association, and the Farmers Union of Wales (FUW) will be writing to the Welsh Government's Agricultural Minister, Alun Davies, asking for the same commitment.
Proposals for the association were set out at the rally, and the FUW's milk and dairy produce committee chairman, Dei Davies, and Vice President, Brian Walters, both signed the commitment for change.
'The association will bring the best minds in the UK together to work as a collaborative high level group to provide solutions to improve the prosperity of the UK dairy sector,' said National Farmers Union (NFU) Scotland milk committee vice chairman, Rory Christie.