Two celebrity chefs have urged the public to boycott some supermarkets over cuts to the price of milk.
In a letter to the Times, Jamie Oliver and Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall said "cynical" retailers paying less for a litre of milk than it costs to produce were making dairy farming "unviable".
But the British Retail Consortium says supermarkets pay well and other milk purchasers should be scrutinised.
Hundreds of farmers are to protest at cuts by processors of up to 2p a litre.
Farmers for Action (FFA) said marches would be held later in Staffordshire, Somerset, Leicestershire and Yorkshire.
Andrew Hemming, the vice chairman of the pressure group, said: "We want all dairy farmers to receive a milk price which covers their production and allows them to make a small profit for them to be able to supply the country not only for the next six months but the next 20 years."
How much is a pint of milk?
| Year | Price | Year | Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| Source: ONS | |||
| 1991 | 32p | 1992 | 34p |
| 1993 | 34p | 1994 | 36p |
| 1995 | 36p | 1996 | 36p |
| 1997 | 35p | 1998 | 34p |
| 1999 | 34p | 2000 | 34p |
| 2001 | 36p | 2002 | 36p |
| 2003 | 37p | 2004 | 35p |
| 2005 | 35p | 2006 | 35p |
| 2007 | 36.8p | 2008 | 42.1p |
| 2009 | 44.1p | 2010 | 44.2p |
| 2011 | 45.3p | 2012 | 46p |
He said the group was concerned about continuing the supply of milk, adding that hundreds of dairy farmers could be forced out of business by price cuts which would lead to milk being imported in large quantities.
In their letter, Mr Oliver - who used to promote Sainsbury's - and Mr Fearnley-Whittingstall wrote: "It's time supermarkets stopped using milk as a loss leader. And if they won't take that initiative, then perhaps consumers will consider moving their custom from those who offer milk at crazy knockdown prices to those who will commit to giving dairy farmers a fairer deal."
However, Sarah Cordey of the British Retail Consortium (BRC) said supermarkets were the "wrong targets" in the campaign.
"Eleven of the 12 best paying customers for milk are paid by supermarkets and are under a lot of public scrutiny," she said.
"We are surprised that we don't see farmers or TV chefs asking important questions of manufacturers or the public sector about the price they pay for milk."
The BRC estimates that about half of the milk British farmers produce ends up as liquid milk in bottles and cartons and only part of that is sold in supermarkets.
The remainder is thought to be sold by convenience shops, door-to-door or used in catering, schools and prisons.
It says dairy processors, manufacturers and the public sector should be held accountable in the same way as retailers.
'Fair deal'Last week Agriculture Minister Jim Paice said he was close to getting agreement on a revised voluntary code for dairy contracts from milk processors.
He said he hoped to see a "fair deal" for dairy farmers.
Mr Paice said the average price of a pint was 49p, of which 16p went to the farmers, and the price cuts were "a massive burden for the vast majority of dairy farmers".
His comments came as Meurig Raymond, of the National Farmers' Union (NFU), said dairy farmers from across the UK had been "pushed to the brink" by cuts to the price of milk.
Price cut impactFour leading dairy processors recently announced the latest cuts - applied from 1 August: Robert Wiseman Dairies and First Milk have both cut the pence per litre (ppl) price by 1.7; Arla Foods UK by 2.0ppl and Dairy Crest by 1.65ppl.
They blame falling commodity prices.
The cuts would be felt by 27% of producers, and impact on 25% of the milk market volume, farmers' union NFU said.
It said an average farmer, with about 150-200 cows, would lose about �37,000 in revenue from the combined effect of cuts in May/June and August.
Those cuts would not affect farmers supplying Tesco, Sainsbury's, Marks & Spencer or Waitrose as they are paid directly by the supermarkets.
Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-18898830#sa-ns_mchannel=rss&ns_source=PublicRSS20-sa
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