SIR,

I fully support the plight of dairy farmers taking their protest to Westminster over the cost of milk.

However, I fear the UK Government does not have enough determination over agricultural policy to be able to effect any significant change for dairy farmers as long as the UK remains in the single market.

It is appalling that so often the product is sold at the farm gate for less than the cost of production. British supermarkets have established an oligopoly that allows them to dominate price and take more than a fair cut after sale.

The crisis is also the result of decades of market control by the EU, subsidised by single farm payments. The EU increased the milk quota by one per cent in low cost regions, meaning production in these areas was stepped up, flooding the market while farmers elsewhere struggled with the rising costs of fodder and rent.

Many Welsh farmers want the UK Government to legislate outside of the European Commission's Milk Package determined earlier this year which fails to include retailers in its remit, rendering any attempted governance over the supply chain a complete waste of time.

The European Milk Board, which represents 100,000 dairy farmers across the EU, wants a programme allowing farmers to cut milk output by 25 per cent of their quota while being compensated for the value of the milk lost.

The industry has already seen dairy farm numbers in England and Wales fall from 17,000 to 11,000 in only eight years. Urgent action must be taken.

John Bufton

(UKIP MEP for Wales)