Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will take steps to protect farmers in the dairy industry from the economic consequences of the recent decision by supermarkets to significantly cut the price of a pint of milk.

All operators in the supply chain should receive a fair price for their goods. We regularly bring together supermarkets, processors and farmers through the Dairy Supply Chain Forum to discuss issues such as collaboration, risk management and market volatility. I chaired the Farming Resilience Group meeting on 14 January where we discussed with the NFU and a range of industry bodies how to help manage volatility.

The Groceries Code Adjudicator was set up to help suppliers if they feel they are being treated unfairly by retailers and we encourage dairy suppliers to use the GCA where they feel the grocery code has been breached.

We are helping the dairy industry to take advantage of opportunities such as opening new export markets and pushing for better country of origin labelling for British dairy products.