More must be done to boost sales of Scottish dairy produce and reduce the burden of transport costs to remote and island dairy farmers, according to a Scottish Parliament committee.
Following its urgent inquiry into the dairy crisis, Holyrood’s rural affairs, climate change and environment committee (Racce) has written a 15-page letter to farm minister Richard Lochhead outlining its recommendations for the sector.
It calls for a ‘Team Scotland’ approach to selling Scottish dairy produce both at home and abroad, and for more transparency with prices paid by processors and supermarkets to boost trust in the supply chain.
“Customers have a right to know how much the retailers they buy their dairy products from have paid to the producers of those products,” said the committee.
It also called for the Scottish Government to “look sympathetically at ways of reducing the burden of transportation costs for remote and island dairy farmers”.
Committee convener Rob Gibson said the group had been appalled to hear from the UK Groceries Code Adjudicator, Christine Tacon, about some of the supermarket practices she was investigating.
“Some of these affect the dairy sector. Supermarkets must work with the Adjudicator to rid Scotland of any ethically reprehensible practices, as well as working with the industry to create a more sustainable, equitable, and profitable dairy sector in Scotland,” added Mr Gibson.
Last month the Press and Journal launched a campaign to support struggling dairy farmers.
It followed months of falling farmgate prices, blamed on a global surplus of milk and poor demand for dairy products.