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By Kate Holton
LONDON, Aug 10 (Reuters) - British farmers warned on Mondaythey were facing financial ruin with falls in the price of milkforcing many out of work and spurring others to blockadedistribution centres and walk cows through supermarkets.
Farming unions from across the country were meeting inLondon to urge the government to provide more help for anindustry that has seen a 25 percent year-on-year drop in theamount farmers are paid for milk.
The National Farmers Union (NFU) estimates that the majorityof dairy farmers are now selling milk below the amount it coststo produce it. "I was earning a pittance," said Peter Parkes, afarmer who pulled out of dairy produce 18 months ago.
Farmers around the country have been protesting againstdepressed prices for over a week, with videos online showingthem entering supermarkets and clearing the shelves of milk.
On Sunday a group of protesters entered a supermarket inStafford, central England, with two cows, to "show" the animalsjust how cheap their milk was.
"If the milk stays this cheap in six months time, 12 monthstime, there will be no fresh milk left in this country," oneprotester said in a video posted online, as bewildered shopperslooked on. "We cannot afford to sell milk at this price."
AHDB Dairy, the industry body, said the collapse in prices,sparked by lower demand from China and a price war among Britishsupermarkets, had resulted in more than one milk producer goingout of business per day in the last year.
"The situation many of our members are experiencing hasbecome a crisis," said NFU President Meurig Raymond. The NFUsaid farmers in the livestock and dairy sectors were "facingfinancial devastation".
Britain's supermarkets have been engaged in a vicious pricewar in recent years, as the success of discount chains Aldi andLidl has prompted the more established names in the sector toslash prices for certain basic produce.
The NFU said retailers Tesco, M&S,Waitrose, Sainsbury's and Co-op paid farmers a pricebased on the cost of production, but others -- includingMorrisons, Asda, Aldi and Lidl -- did not.
The fall in milk prices has had global ramifications, withproducers from New Zealand to Ireland struggling in the neweconomic environment. Agriculture, fishing and forestry togetheraccount for 0.6 percent of UK GDP. (Editing by Mark Heinrich)
