NFU Scotland angry at Lactalis decision to drop dairy suppliers
25th September 2024
NFU Scotland has expressed anger and disappointment at the decision taken by dairy processor Lactalis to serve notice without warning to 12 of its dairy farmer suppliers in South West Scotland.
The 12 producers, ten in Dumfries and Galloway and two in Ayrshire, have been given 12 months’ notice.
According to Lactalis, the decision has been taken following a business review of its milk supply in South West Scotland.
Milk is provided to Lactalis and its creamery in Stranraer by the Milk Suppliers Association (MSA), a co-operative of dairy farmers based throughout South West Scotland that, according to its website, supply approximately 210 million litres of milk per annum to Lactalis.
NFU Scotland has asked for a meeting with both Lactalis and MSA to discuss the decision.
The union is also encouraging any affected farmer to reach out to NFU Scotland or the Scottish Dairy Hub should they require support and assistance.
Calls for greater protection for producers
The Lactalis decision follows the announcement in August from the Tesco Sustainable Dairy Group (TSDG) that it is to reduce the number of dairy farmers directly supplying the retailer for its own label fresh milk, which will likely see some Scottish dairy farmers lose that contract.
NFU Scotland vice president Andrew Connon said: “Once again, it appears as though producers are to be dumped out of their current contract without clear reasoning and with few options to find alternatives in the current market. We look to meet with Lactalis and the MSA to get a full explanation of the decision.
“How can any milk producer invest, plan, and have confidence in what they are doing if they can be dropped on a whim should their milk purchaser perceive them as being awkward to deal with, geographically challenging to service or producing milk of unsatisfactory volume?
“There must be clear protocols built into contracts that protect a producer when a processor faces a challenging market for its products and passes the problem on to those supplying it.”
Mr Connon added that without greater protection for producers in contracts, this will continue to happen, allowing processors to “squeeze out some suppliers” in favour of others.
“Why would anyone push to keep up with multi-decade investments when confidence in contracts only extends to 12 months? Dairy is largely an unsupported sector, with no grant schemes in Scotland supporting investment, resulting in all improvements to meet market demand coming from private investment.
“There must be greater protection for dairy farmers, which reinforces NFU Scotland’s position on the importance of the new milk contract legislation coming into force,” he concluded.
Read more farm business news.
