WATCH: Milk protesters hit Harrogate ASDA

This is the moment that farmers took part in a trolley dash protest at Asda in Harrogate.
By Laura Hill
Published 10th Aug 2015, 15:11 BST

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Young farmers fed up with the falling price of milk filled three trolleys with bottles of milk which came to just £170, before handing out free pints to shocked shoppers.

Farmers son 15-year-old Charlie Britton took part in the protest. He is the fourth generation of his family to be involved in dairy farming near Ripon.

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He said: “As I have got older I have realised how bad it is.

“A lot of people were asking ‘what is the point in buying from the supermarket to give it away?’ but we wanted to bring attention to the problem.

“We spoke to lots of shoppers and people said they were shocked, lots of people said they would pay more, it was a successful event.”

He added: “£170 for three trolley loads, you can’t even buy water for cheaper, nothing is a as cheap as that. When there was more money, us farmers weren’t keeping it and going off on holidays, we were investing it in the farm to improve the standard of living for the cows.”

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One Harrogate dairy farmer, who did not take part in the protest said the industry is at ‘rock bottom’

Second generation Nidderdale farmer David Smith said: “At least we hope this is rock bottom and we can only go up from here.”

In January the 66-year-old, former president of the Nidderdale Agricultural Society (NAS) who still farms 120 dairy cows at Shepherd Lodge near Brimham Rocks told the Advertiser that ‘farmers couldn’t take much more.’

Today (August 8) he said: “Things have gotten worse, for dairy farmers it is the worst it has ever been.

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“It is a global problem at the moment, the supermarkets are in a price war and it is us farmers it is affecting.

“We could do with shoppers at least looking for the red tractor to buy British dairy goods.”

Farmers’ unions are today holding crisis talks with the four main unions, the National Farmers’ Union, NFU Cymru, NFU Scotland and the Ulster Farmers Union, meeting for an emergency summit in London.

Would you be happy to pay more for milk? Comment below or fund us on Facebook.

Video by BBC Look North

Related topics:ASDAHarrogateDavid SmithRiponNidderdale