A SUMMIT meeting between Government ministers and farmers' leaders resulted in supermarkets being urged to back British products.

Leaders of the UK's four farming unions welcomed the ministers’ acknowledgement that the supply chain is not working and that urgent measures are required to address the immediate crisis.

It was recognised that the crisis is not only in the dairy sector but across the board with the lamb sector also particularly hard hit.

Monday's meeting at Defra’s office in London was attended by the presidents of the NFU, NFU Scotland, NFU Cymru and Ulster Farmers Union.

It listed a series of actions that retailers and the food service sector should urgently commit to, including clearer country of origin labelling; clarity on sourcing policies; better, more consistent, promotion of British food and, from the Government, delivery of its public procurement food policy.

The summit recognised some issues could only be tackled at EU level and agreed that farm ministers would take a united stance at an emergency meeting in Brussels on September 7.

In a joint statement the presidents said: "We cannot allow the meltdown in the farming industry to continue. The Secretary of State and the devolved agricultural ministers have today acknowledged the threats facing the farming industry and the need for urgent action.

"Our farming members now expect to see these words followed up with visible, tangible actions. The ministers should be in no doubt that the time for talking is now over.

"Ahead of the emergency European farming summit in Brussels on September 7, all parties agreed today to work on, and agree, the UK demands that will be put in front of the European agricultural ministers and the Commission."

They stressed the importance of timely BPS payments and ministers committed to do all they could to ensure this happens. "These payments are going to be essential to the cash flow of many hard-pressed farms," said the statement.

"In the immediate short term, we look to the retailers and food service companies to ensure they are treating their farming suppliers fairly. We believe they have a responsibility to ensure that there is a sustainable farming industry and they need to understand their vital role in this to guarantee their security of supply in the future."

Judith Bryans, chief executive of Dairy UK, the trade association for the British dairy supply chain, said the meeting with ministers was "constructive".

She said: "We were pleased to see that the Government is progressing the agenda on public procurement and is keen to support the industry on exports. Dairy UK also renewed its call for the EU Commission to raise the intervention price as we believe this is an urgently needed measure to ease the pressure on the sector.

"In the long term, we need a collaborative approach throughout the supply chain to develop a toolbox to handle the impact of volatility, which, as we know, is now an inherent part of the milk market."

Following farmers' protests, Aldi, Lidl and Asda have agreed to pay farmers 28p per litre, while Morrisons has launched a brand of milk and cheese to directly support producers.

Farmers estimate it costs between 30p and 32p to produce a litre of milk, but they were being paid an average of 23.66p in June – a drop of 25 per cent in a year. Many were receiving a lot less.