A SCOTS dairy farmer involved in the latest in a series of milk protests against supermarkets says he faces just six months to save his business unless he receives more money for his product.
Robin Briggs, 35, was among a group of demonstrators who filled shopping trolleys to the brim before buying the entire stock of an milk from Asda's Ayr branch in one swoop.
Thursday night's incident was the latest organised demonstration across Scotland and the rest of the UK as part of the Milk Trolley Challenge. Farmers have been removing all the milk cartons from supermarkets which they claim are failing to give them a big enough cut for milk, before paying for them and giving them awy to foodbanks, charities or dumping it at checkouts.
Mr Briggs, of Maybole, South Ayrshire, said he would probably have to give up farming within six months because he receive 8p less than the production costs for his milk.
He said: "We're not able to pay the bills at the moment. In the current situation if it does not improve I would think we would have to give up in six months.
"The last thing we want is to give up the farm. It's what I love to do. It's what my passion is. It would be a disaster if that came to an end."
Farmers claim they are being paid just 15 pence a litre for their milk, with production costing 24 pence.
They have admitted that the problems go further than what the supermarket pays for milk, as there has been an oversupply of the product across the world, driving prices down.
But they say the protests aim to encourage people to buy British products instead of imports.
The latest demonstrations, which also took place at Asda in Kilmarnock, were funded by a mystery local benefactor.
Milk not leftover was sold to customers who paid into an honesty box.
Mr Briggs, 35, who was taking part in the Ayr protest, said he was receiving eight pence below production costs for his milk.
He added: "We're not able to pay the bills at the moment. In the current situation if it does not improve I would think we would have to give up in six months.
"The last thing we want is to give up the farm. It's what I love to do. It's what my passion is. It would be a disaster."
Farmers say they are being paid 15 pence a litre for their milk, with production costing 24 pence.
They have admitted that the problems go further than what the supermarket pays for milk, as there has been an oversupply of the product across the world, driving prices down.
Meanwhile, Morrisons, which has also been targeted by the protesters along with Lidl, will meet farming industry leaders next week to discuss milk prices following protests by farmers.
Arla, Britian's biggest milk co-operative, previously announced a price cut of 0.8p per litre, taking the standard litre price to 23.01p for its UK members.
Around 1,000 farmers gathered at Morrisons depot in Somerset, while 600 blockaded another in Cheshire.
The group behind the protests, Farmers For Action, thanked protesters for their "fantastic" support and urged them to target retailers other than Morrisons.
A Morrisons spokeswoman said: "We recognise that the current issue is being caused by a reduction in global demand for milk. We are not seeking any further reductions in milk prices and we will continue our talks with the NFU."
NFU Scotland has joined the UK's three other main farming unions - to called for the four UK farming ministers to meet with them with an emergency summit of leaders pencilled in for Monday.
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