Farmers protest at Asda in Telford over price they get for milk

Dairy farmers emptied the shelves of milk at a Shropshire supermarket in protest at the price paid for milk.

The farmers filled their trolleys at an Asda store in Telford town centre before paying for it and then handing it out to passers-by.

It follows Arla, Britain's biggest milk co-operative, cutting the price by 0.8p per litre, making a litre cost 23.01p.

Many farmers say that amount is not enough for them to make a profit.

It costs between 30 and 32p to produce each litre of milk, according to British dairy organisation AHDB Dairy.

Groups of farmers have targeted other supermarkets across the UK over the past few days.

Several went to Morrisons in Shrewsbury on Sunday evening.

Farmer Michael Oakes, from Worcestershire, who is a member of Arla and took part in the protest in Telford, said they wanted to get their message across but keep consumers "on board".

"Farmers are just getting quite desperate," he said.

"There's no margin for dairy farmers any more.

"We had a meeting in Telford today and we wanted to keep consumers on board but get our message across."

He said the feedback from the public had been really positive and that they understood the problems they faced.

A spokesman for Asda said its milk was supplied by the Arla farmer co-operative which is owned by farmers.

"We moved to this model after guidance from those who were supplying us and [it] means the price received by our farmers is set by their own cooperative business.

"They receive an on-account payment for their milk and take an equal share of any remaining profit.

"There is no link between retail prices and farm-gate price."

A spokesman for Arla said high milk production across the world and low demand from China and Russia, in particular, continued to impact on prices.

Jonathan Ovens, Arla Foods amba farmer board director, said: "As a farmer-owned business, with 3,000 British dairy farmer owners, we are painfully aware of the impact that the downturn in the markets is having at farm level and this cannot be ignored.

"It's not a lack of effort or determination on Arla's part; we are doing everything possible to help our owners to navigate through this increasingly tough situation, in the best possible way."