Fair trade needed for Shropshire farmers, says House of Commons' farming chairman

Tim Farron MP, Chair of the House of Commons Upland Farmers Committee, visited a dairy farm in the Bishop's Castle area yesterday to chat about the price of milk, among other issues.

The former Lib Dem president stopped off at The Cottage dairy farm, run by Jayne Beamond, following a debate with 30 dairy farmers across the border in Welshpool the night before.

Farron has been pushing for more powers for regulatory bodies such as the Groceries Code Adjudicator to monitor the relationship between supermarkets and farmers after a series of price cuts – and protests in response – hitting the milk industry hard in recent months.

He said: "Farmers are not asking for special treatment, they are asking for a level playing field.

"The problems of dairy farms are severe and impact on our rural communities.

"We must do more to help them. We need fair trade for farmers, be they from Sri Lanka or Shropshire.

Yesterday he was shown around the Bishop's Castle area by Charlotte Barnes, Shropshire Councillor for Bishop's Castle and parliamentary candidate for Ludlow for the forthcoming elections - and, she said, the interest from a senior party MP was very welcome.

"I'm delighted that Tim made time to visit us," she said.

"His support is a clear intimation that he looks at Ludlow as a seat we Liberal Democrats can win back in May – and having an MP of his standing is a boost to the morale of people out in rural England.

"He seems to have brought us luck – soon after Tim Fallon's last visit to Lydbury North School (in 2012) we were able to celebrate avoiding being closed, and I was elected to Shropshire Council."

After speaking to the Beamonds she added: "It's clear from the research that prices paid vary widely with some such as Aldi and Morrisons paying particularly low sums to farmers.

"Indeed until recently the Beamonds were receiving only 19p per litre they have now changed contract to Mullers who are paying around 24p per litre."

Mrs Beamond said: "Tim understood that, while there is market turbulence and a battery of short term changes, farming is a long term business.

"It's not just a simple production line we can switch off. The idea of leaving the EU is preposterous rural Britain would be devastated."

Mr Farron also visited Norbury Primary School.

His visit comes as protest group Farmers For Action warned of further protests after Shropshire's biggest dairy, Muller Wiseman in Market Drayton, announced it was once again slashing the price it pays its farmers for milk.

It costs farmers on average 30p to produce a litre of milk.

On Monday night Mr Farron was across the border in Forden to discuss the future of dairy farming with a group of 30 farmers from the Welshpool area.

He met with them at the Cock Inn to discuss their concerns. He said he had heard stories from the farmers about their own businesses, and had also heard about Leighton farmer Fraser Jones' plans for a megadairy which were passed by a planning inspector last year.

"I understand why people look at that as an option but I think it would be a terrible shame if all farms ended up all in the hands of megafarms," he said.

"I think it would be a shame if that became the norm. The bigger farms will have more efficiency and it's possible other practices could be trialled or learned there and passed on to family farms.

"We've always had larger farms, the question is whether it becomes big business instead of big farms."

Mr Farron said issues such as the controversy over Mr Jones' plans could adversely affect the larger farming community if individuals weren't careful.

He said: "It's important not to be falling out in the farm community and to accept that diversity is happening. But if every farm was to become a megafarm we would lose something special.

"What makes English and Welsh lamb and beef so special is it's reared mostly on family farms, and we need to allow them to work together.

"Currently they're not allowed to work together because of the Competition Commission rules, but they should be allowed to stand together to fight for better prices for their produce."

Mr Farron said he believed the Groceries Code Adjudicator, which oversees the relationship between supermarkets and their suppliers, would begin to make a difference after it was given powers to fine supermarkets which are treating their suppliers unfairly.

During his visit to the region Mr Farron also spent time with Liberal Democrat parliamentary candidates Jane Dodds for Montgomeryshire.

Mr Farron, who is tipped to be the next leader of the Liberal Democrats if the party fails to show well at the election, added: "This is going to be a very complex election."