Buy supermarket shares, farmers told

A REGIONAL DIRECTOR of the Country Land and Business Association is urging farmers to buy supermarket shares.

Douglas Chalmers, regional director for the north, said the time had come to stop simply complaining about supermarkets and to do something which affected them.

Mr Chalmers said retailers were not required to share their margins with their primary producers and in fact their shareholders might be upset if they did.

“Perhaps the answer is for farmers and other producers to buy a small number of shares with voting rights.

“Directors of large companies want their AGMs to run smoothly. The risk of being asked questions from the floor or by writing may make them reconsider their buying policies, and to really mean it when they say they support British food producers.”