AN INFLUENTIAL Commons committee led by a North Yorkshire MP is calling for drastic action to help dairy farmers.

The Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (EFRA) Committee – chaired by Ryedale MP Anne McIntosh – has called on the Government to give the authorities more power to help dairy farmers struggling against drastic price cuts.

Miss McIntosh said: “Frequent, sharp and unpredictable rises and falls in milk prices are driving dairy farmers out of business every week. The volatility of worldwide and domestic milk markets is making financial planning and investment impossible for small scale producers unable to hedge against changes beyond their control.”

The committee wants an adjudicator set up to make sure supermarkets treat their suppliers properly and to have the power to help even small scale producers who do not sell directly to the supermarket.

The MP added: “The vast majority of dairy farmers fall outside the protection offered by the Groceries Code Adjudicator (GCA). She can only investigate complaints involving direct suppliers to the big ten supermarkets and retailers, and as most milk production is small scale, that excludes most dairy farmers.

“The EFRA Committee thought that was wrong when the GCA was set up in 2013, and events since then justify our view that her remit should be extended to include small scale suppliers, whether or not they have a direct relationship with the ultimate seller of their produce.”

Milk prices have dropped drastically in the last six months, because of a drop in worldwide demand, a Russian trade ban, and international oversupply following high milk prices in 2013.

So many farmers have been forced out of the industry that now fewer than 10,000 are left in the UK – the lowest number in a lifetime.

In its report EFRA committee also asks for an EU review of the problem.