Farmers’ fair dealing regs scepticism fading, says adjudicator

Initial scepticism among dairy farmers about the likely effectiveness of the new Fair Dealings Regulations are understandable, but diminishing, according to agricultural supply chain adjudicator Richard Thompson.

A survey of producers earlier this year, revealed in the adjudicator’s first annual report, shows that just 53% of dairy farmers believed the regulations would improve fairness.

While 84% said they feared recrimination or loss of future contracts if they made a complaint against their milk buyer.

See also: Fair dairy regs to be tested as dairy imposes backdated price cuts

“I can understand why farmers would be sceptical,” Mr Thompson said. “Until people see change and experience change it is natural to wonder if it will make a real difference.”

But as time went on, and farmers were notified of their new contracts since July, awareness of the protections available in terms of greater transparency and fairness on offer has grown, he said.

One early success

Mr Thompson explained that there had already been one early success in terms of resolving a contractual problem between a buyer and a seller.

Even though the report, covering the period July 2024 to June 2025, says there had been zero formal complaints, since then the adjudicator’s office had stepped into one dispute.

“This we have resolved by speaking to both the farmer and the processor, following which the processor agreed to issue a revised contract,” said Mr Thompson.

Since this did not escalate to full formal investigation, the names of the parties involved were kept under wraps.

He added that he was aware of another situation involving  Llaeth Cymreig – Welsh Milk, based at Nantegryd, Capel Dewi – which in October told suppliers their price would be cut by 6p to 34p/litre, made retrospective from 1 September.

Mr Thompson confirmed that the regulations did not explicitly prevent retrospective price cuts, so long as the factors triggering it and how changes would be calculated were set out in the contract.

Awareness and trust

Much of the workload in the first year of the adjudicator’s existence had been about raising awareness and building trust.

For example, through the establishment of an “in confidence” mailbox to allow farmers to make complaints discreetly, and the development of a sector-led “principles of conduct” document.

Maintaining good relationships, open communication and trust would be even more important in the coming months as dairy markets come under more downward pressure, said Mr Thompson.

But dairy farmers should feel at ease to use the “in confidence” online platform.

“They don’t need to fill out any forms, they don’t need to have legal representation, they don’t need to speak to us in the language of the regulations.

“Just drop us an email and one of us will give them a call back to discuss the issues they are facing, completely in confidence.”

Farmers would only have to reveal their identity if a dispute progressed to a formal investigation.