Three young dairy farmers briefed MPs at the House of Commons about the vital importance of the dairy industry earlier this week.

Emily Rout, Jonny Burridge and Toby Tibbenham went to London to highlight the contribution of the dairy industry to the broader economy and also the need for a fairer milk price to producers.

The trip was arranged by Buy Local Norfolk Group and the theme of the visit was supporting British Agriculture. A tour was first given of the Houses of Parliament, before entering meetings and discussion groups with MPs.

The MPs taking part included Great Yarmouth MP Brandon Lewis, Norwich South MP Simon Wright, Norwich North MP and junior treasury minister Chloe Smith and Mid-Norfolk MP George Freeman. A panel of speakers discussed the dairy industry's plight and the forthcoming cut in the milk price from August 1.

It was felt that the event had been generally positive and there was acceptance that a fairer price must be paid to producers. Further, some supermarkets needed to increase prices and ensure that a fairer share was paid back to the producer.

The three young farmers also stressed the need for more education in schools in order to teach young people where their milk and food comes from. This is something that must be improved on and can, in time, only have a positive effect on the industry as a whole.

Another aspect discussed was the need to improve further the welfare of dairy cows.

Cows, they pointed out, still required the same level of care and attention whatever the milk price. The impact of the price pressures was also explained as the GB average price was 28.46ppl in April 2012, a 0.55ppl or 1.9pc decrease on the previous month – and below the industry benchmark break-even of between 29p and 30p litre.

Annelise Ford