‘Farmers must be paid a fair price’

He said the dairy market is continuously improving and with that there should be better returns for farmers but in today’s case it is not, as the processors are not paying farmers what is required to produce milk.

“The increase in electricity costs is just one of many increases farmers are faced with and whilst it costs more to produce milk the processors have not reflected this within their pricing,” said Cllr Glasgow.

“Coming from a dairy farm myself it is extremely frustrating and at times makes farmers angry seeing overhead costs increase but yet the price of milk does not.

“This ongoing matter needs to be addressed by dairy processors with urgency.

“It is only right that farmers receive a fair price for the high-quality product they are producing when the market is positive.”

The local representative said processors need to grasp the reality of what is happening on the ground.

“They need to bring about increasing the base milk price especially when dairy farmers across Northern Ireland are coming under added pressure due to rising feed, fuel and fertiliser prices,” Cllr Glasgow continued.

“An increase in the milk base price is crucial for sustaining family run dairy farms for generations to come and to ensure that the high quality product making its way to the shelves in the shops continue.”

He warned that if things don’t change there will be less dairy farms about, as farmers will be forced out by poor prices for their produce and rising overhead costs.

The Ulster Farmers Union has requested an urgent meeting with dairy processors to address farmers receiving a poor return for their milk.