UK &#8211, Nick Brown, minister of agriculture, today confirmed that moving into milk processing is vital to the future of many dairy farmers.

Speaking at the National Farmers’ Union’s (NFU) annual general meeting in London this morning, Brown acknowledged that dairy farmers have experienced the worst prices for generations and said that the way forward is farmer owned co-operatives with large milk volumes and processing capacity.

Brown pledged his support for farmers wishing to move into processing and advised that such restructuring of the industry should proceed without intervention from the Office of Fair Trading or the Competition Commission.