Sir Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she is taking to promote collaboration between farmers by setting up producer organisations in the dairy sector.

George Eustace, Minister of State for Farming, Food and the Marine Environment: Collaboration is a powerful way for groups of farmers to share knowledge and expertise, market information and good farming practice, exercise joint purchasing power and strengthen their negotiating position within the supply chain.

We have put in place the legal framework that allows dairy producer organisations (DPOs) to form and provided some initial funding through the launch of the £5m Dairy Fund in 2013. The first domestic DPO, Dairy Crest Direct, was formally recognised by the Rural Payments Agency in May 2015, bringing together 1,050 dairy farmers across England and Wales.

In 2015, AHDB Llaeth/Dairy commissioned Promar International to carry out a study into ‘The Feasibility of a Dairy Producer Organisation in Wales’ on behalf of a group of Welsh dairy farmers. A report is available at:http://dairy.ahdb.org.uk/resources-library/market-information/adhoc-reports/the-feasibility-of-a-dairy-producer-organisation-in-wales-report/

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