Milk turns sour for distributors
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MILK DISTRIBUTORS have been disrupted by a wave of blockades by farmers in the last week in protest at the price they are paid for their milk.
The action, which started on Thursday 19 July, has seen milk processing plants blockaded with tractors in several counties so far including Somerset, Leicestershire, Worcestershire and Yorkshire.
A spokesman for SJ Bargh says that while it has avoided major disruption, blockades of two Arla dairies at Leeds and Ashby and Dairy Crest’s Foston dairy on 19 July did cause it some trouble, with 10 vehicles unable to get in or out of the sites for several hours. To avoid further protests, the firm sent the following day’s milk movements to processors in the south of the country, adds the spokesman, involving both extra resources and extra mileage.
John Gregory, chief executive of Devon-based Gregory Distribution, declines to comment on his own firm’s experience but says: “We’re used to all sorts of issues in transport and just get around it.” However, a spokeswoman for Wincanton says: “We had contingency plans in place but did not need to use them."
Farmers for Action campaign group chairman David Handley says further protests are still being conducted and will run through to the end of the month.