I AM writing in reply to the letter in last week’s paper concerning dairy farming.

It would seem to me that Mr Woodward is pursuing his own agenda and is very much out of touch with public sentiment on this issue.

His text is crammed from start to finish with factual inaccuracies which show a lack of understanding of modern dairy farming.

The final comments about his apparent desire to continue drinking mother’s breast milk seem rather peculiar to say the least.

British farmers operate to the highest welfare standards in the world and it is essential for milk production to have healthy cows, with low stress levels, in order for them to produce milk.

Dairy farming is very hard work and demands high capital investment but those who choose this career do not automatically think the world owes them a living because of this.

Recent attention on milk price reduction has demonstrated, however, that it is the public who demand a fair price to be paid to the farmer.

Consumers recognise that we must retain British dairy farming as it would be extremely dangerous to rely on foreign production of this very basic food which we all expect to be in our fridge in its many consumable forms.

It seems that the supermarkets are now starting to recognise that their customers are sick of their abuse of the market and may just be prepared to offer a life-line.

A lot more work is required to ensure supermarkets and processors do not abuse their power. An ombudsman with teeth and legislation to ensure fairness of contracts are among issues the NFU are working on.

I do not think it is too much to expect a fair price to be paid to farmers.

ROB HICKS, Ryedale NFU, Pickering