Supermarkets should pay farmers more for their milk instead of exploiting them as loss leaders, according to a Free Church of Scotland minister in North Lanarkshire.

The Rev Ivor MacDonald, who works in Coatbridge, said the current treatment of milk suppliers was “unjust” and that there had rightly been a public outcry on the issue.

Mr MacDonald, who was an agricultural advisor before being called to the ministry, pointed out that the current agreement with some chains left farmers making an annual loss of almost £100,000.

He explained: “Farmers need 32p per litre to cover all their costs. The supermarkets pay them 24p per litre.

“That is unsustainable and for a typical family dairy farm with 150 cows it amounts to an annual loss of £90,000.

“The trend in society is to view food as fuel to be purchased cheaply, consumed quickly and wasted carelessly."

Mr MacDonald, who previously worked on Skye, also warned that many farmers “would not survive” if the present practices continued for much longer: “Agriculture is different from other activities in that it is so closely connected to issues that are at the heart of who we are."

Since dairy farmers started their recent campaign, several of the leading supermarket chains have said they would pay farmers more, although not as much as the 32p figure Mr MacDonald identified.