Milk prices, morality and market mechanisms | Letters

With the increasing numbers of pound shops, and our demand for a bargain, or cheap deals in supermarkets, it's no surprise UK farmers are being forced to take such direct action (Report, 12 August). Until prices of milk reflect the cost of production, more UK farmers will be squeezed out by discount food chains and multimillion-pound supermarkets. Latest reports state our farmers need to be paid at least 30p a litre to cover their costs, yet they were only paid an average 23.66p for a litre of milk in June, according to British dairy organisation AHDB Dairy. If we want our farmers to earn the income they deserve, surely we ought to buy directly from the suppliers - our farmers - and cut out the "middleman" until their prices reflect the true value of production.
Jill Ferguson
Glasgow

" Those of us of a certain age can remember similar arguments being put forward about the market price of coal in the 1980s as are now being put forward about the price of milk. If the price isn't maintained, people will be put out of work. Of course, miners didn't vote Conservative.
John Beresford
Cambridge