THE new NFU dairy board chairman has demanded price rises for producers.

And Mansel Raymond also promised to investigate the dairy market to ensure farmers get what they are owed.

He told the NFU Council that he feared their rising confidence would "drop like a stone" if their legitimate expectations for price rises were not met.

He said: "All the market conditions provide strong grounds for a sizeable increase, which therefore leaves some very serious questions about why farmers are yet to see this reflected in their milk cheques."

He told milk buyers that farmers knew milk prices were rising across the rest of Europe; knew about the record milk auction prices; were aware of favourable exchange rates; knew import levels had dropped off a cliff; and saw that DairyCo's Milk for Cheese Value Equivalent was 3ppl higher than this time last year and that cream prices rose more than 13pc in March.

Mr Raymond said milk production had reached a new low and buyers must treat their suppliers properly.

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