All MSPs have been sent a letter with startling statistics about some of the prices Scottish farmers receive for their produce. The MSPs are invited to add their names to a petition calling for fair prices for Scottish farmers, which has gathered more than five thousand signatures so far.

The facts are:

• 1 in 4 Scottish dairy farmers has gone out of business in the last four years;
  
  
• Scottish farmers lose 4 pence on every litre of milk they produce yet British supermarkets make approximately 10 pence profit on every litre they sell;
  
  
• In 2006 a kilogram of new potatoes sold for £1.80 in Scottish supermarkets but farmers received only 17 pence per kilogram.

It just doesn’t add up.

So who’s creaming off the profit? It is difficult to determine where the money goes, but with supermarkets reporting record profits in 2006, NFU Scotland insists there must be some financial slack along the supply chain.

Anna Davies, Communications and Campaigns Manager at NFU Scotland said:

“NFUS has worked hard to enlist the public’s help in its campaign to ensure fair treatment and prices for farmers. Supermarkets have flourished because they react to consumer demand, so the call for fair prices for farmers that consumers can deliver in return is important. Consumers are increasingly demanding Scottish produce and supermarkets have a responsibility to pay prices which ensure everyone in the food chain can make a living.

“We are now taking the same message to MSPs: to keep producing the best food in the world, we need to keep Scotland farming. We hope they will sign up to it.”

Andrew Arbuckle MSP, who is hosting the Union’s visit to the Parliament, said:

“The Scottish Parliament has shown broad support for fair prices for farmers through its Inquiry into the Food Supply Chain. However, the issue is ongoing and NFU Scotland’s presence in the Parliament will allow MSPs to build on the campaign, especially ahead of the Scottish parliamentary elections this May.”
If farmers don’t get a fair price, analysts have predicted that the UK could have to start importing milk by 2011.

Scotland has some of the most efficient dairy farms in the world: we can not let this happen.

NOTE:

NFU Scotland will be in the Scottish Parliament’s Garden lobby between 10am and 4pm on Thursday 11 January.

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