HUNDREDS of members of Farmers For Action blockaded the Muller Wiseman plant at Market Drayton, Shropshire, on Monday night with another planned in Bridgewater, Somerset, on Wednesday.

It followed Muller's announcement that it would pay producers 27.1ppl from November 1 – down 1.9ppl from the current price.

Ahead of the blockade, Ronald Kers, chief executive of the Muller UK & Ireland Group, appealed for them to "stop and think" before inflicting further damage to an industry under severe pressure from steep falls in the value of commodities like cream and butter.

He said: "Dairy farmers have been breaking all-time records in terms of milk production and the prices received for their milk. Farms in the UK have increased production by more than 1bn litres of milk this year – almost an extra litre for every ten litres that they produced last year.

“Unfortunately, this extra milk, coupled with weaker demand, has affected farm-gate milk prices. This is a worldwide phenomenon repeated in all major milk producing countries, and the imbalance between supply and demand has resulted in the value of dairy commodities reducing by more than 50 per cent in just eight months."

Muller is working with its1,200 producers to achieve closer alignment between farm milk production and Müller’s demand profile, to reduce the need to sell surplus milk into low value markets.

Anne McIntosh, MP for Thirsk Malton and Filey and chairman of the Environment , Food and Rural Affairs select committee, has raised falling farm gate milk prices with Environment Secretary Liz Truss.

She said: "I am alarmed at the recent fall in milk prices and the impact this sudden change will have on milk producers who will have factored in milk prices into their production costs and who will now be left with a potential shortfall.

" At the moment, there is no redress in this situation. I would hope that there may be the possibility of extending the remit of the Grocery Code Adjudicator to reviewing the relationship between milk producers and processors. At present, the GCA only covers relations between growers and retailers."

Meanwhile, Rabobank, the food and agribusiness analysts, have predicted international and regional dairy markets face12 months of low prices.

It said the price of internationally-traded dairy commodities have fallen 30-45 per cent below February levels as a strong wave of milk from export regions collided with weaker Chinese buying and Russia's ban on dairy imports.

With Chinese purchases likely to fall well short of previous years for at least another six months, and Russian imports likely to be slashed, the market would remain loose for many months to come.

Rabobank believes prices will start to rise in international and regional markets in Q3 2015, as a fall in surplus milk coincides with the return to growth in Chinese imports and the assumed reopening of the Russian market.