DAIRY farmers have been warned of an "extremely difficult" autumn and winter ahead.

Rob Harrison, NFU dairy board chairman, was speaking after Arla announced a further 0.8ppl cut in their standard litre milk price to 23.01p from August 3.

Mr Harrison said: "Dairy farmers across the UK are struggling right now and it’s not getting any easier. The market outlook for the rest of this year and into 2016 is not positive so we’re in for an extremely difficult autumn and winter.

"I’ve spoken to hundreds of dairy farmers at the Royal Welsh Show, Market Drayton and Bridgewater recently who are questioning their future in the industry. Their clear message is that we must remain united."

Dairy farmers across the world were suffering from milk prices far below the cost of production. There had been protests in France and milk thrown away in Canada and the US.

Mr Harrison said the sector desperately needs the Government’s help to ensure a fully functioning and fair dairy supply chain. "Now is the time for action – we’ve seen the French Government provide a list of support measures and financial backing to help their farmers through this difficult period," he said.

The NFU continued to meet with major retailers, banks, food service companies and processors to urge for a fair, sustainable and transparent supply chain.

“With the outlook bleak for the foreseeable future I’d call on fellow farmers to talk to their banks, feed merchants, suppliers and business consultants now, before things get far worse, and utilise the resources available at AHDB Dairy to help ride this storm out as best we can," Mr Harrison said.

"Farmers need to speak to their milk buyers to ensure open and honest communication on the market and future prospects – rather than sit back and wait for another milk price announcement. We need the industry and AHDB to get out and promote British dairy products.

"We all want to be part of a growing successful dairy industry but the next 12 months is going to be incredibly tough. We urge farmers to face up to those difficult decisions and not wait in hope for things to improve."

Ash Amirahmadi, Arla's head of UK milk and member services, said the downward price trend was continuing around the world, not helped by high milk production coinciding with low demand from China and Russia.

"While we are doing everything we can to further reduce our costs, grow our branded portfolio, launch the Arla brand into dairy, promote our farmer-owned status, and work independently with each of our customers to find solutions to deal with market volatility, we simply cannot influence the macro factors," he said.

Jonathan Ovens, Arla Foods amba farmer board director, said: "As a farmer-owned business, with 3,000 British dairy farmer owners, we are painfully aware of the impact that the downturn in the markets is having at farm level and this cannot be ignored.

"It’s not a lack of effort or determination on Arla’s part; we are doing everything possible to help our owners to navigate through this increasingly tough situation, in the best possible way."