Pressure builds over Milk Link votes

12 October 2001



Pressure builds over Milk Link votes

By John Burns, south-west England correspondent

PRESSURE is building on Milk Link, the dairy farmers co-operative, to amend its voting rules so smaller dairy producers get a better deal.

The Small Farms Association has urged Milk Link members who feel the rules are unfair to come forward and call for them to be changed.

Representatives of the group will then meet Milk Link management, said the associations chairman Philip Hosking.

“We founder members of Milk Link signed an agreement that each members 5 share entitled him to one vote.

“A year later it has been changed to benefit the big boys.

“Everyone will have the same 0.5ppl deductions. But the more milk you produce, the more votes you get and the higher the price you get per litre.”

Milk Link company secretary Karen Young said the cooperative was open to negotiation on the subject.

“Our door is always open, though there have already been a number of meetings and we had one specifically for them in the Totnes area.”

• More dairy farmers join cooperatives, FWi, 21 February, 2001
• Milk Link quits mega-co-op talks, FWi, 02 February, 2001
• Thousands to ditch dairy firms, FWi, 19 January 2001