Cows led into Asda in protest against milk prices
Two cows were led through the aisle of an Asda store in Stafford as part of a protest over how much dairy farmers are paid for the milk their produce.
A video posted online shows protesters herding the cows through the supermarket and taking part in the “Milk Trolley Challenge” which involves clearing the shelves of milk and leaving the trolleys at the checkouts to demand a “fairer” price.
One man can be heard saying: “This milk should not be cheaper than a bottle of water.
“If the milk stock is this cheap in six months’ time, there will be no fresh milk in this country. We are packing up. We cannot afford to sell milk at this price.”
He told shoppers: “The reason we are doing this is the milk is far too cheap.”
Cheap milk
The police were called to the supermarket and protesters became angry when an officer touched one of the cows but did leave the store shortly after.
Farmers across the country have been taking part in protests against cheap dairy products and blockading Morrison’s distribution centre in Somerset and Cheshire.
They argue that the price they are paid for producing milk is unsustainable. Farmers estimate that it costs between 30p and 33p to produce a litre of milk and with some supermarkets, including Asda, paying as little as 23p a litre, farmers are missing out on around 10p per litre.
The protests come as Britain’s biggest milk co-operative Arla announced a price cut of 0.8p per litre last week, taking the price paid to some farmers to below 23p.
