Lib Dem MP calls for ‘adjudicator with teeth’ following milk price cuts
7th October 2025
The newly appointed Liberal Democrat rural affairs spokesperson, Sarah Dyke MP, has called for an “adjudicator with teeth” as the dairy industry has been hit by reductions in milk price.
Sarah Dyke, Liberal Democrat MP for Glastonbury and Somerton, has renewed calls for urgent reform to protect British dairy farmers after major processors announced significant cuts to the price paid for milk.
During the Dairy Industry Dinner last week, Dyke MP delivered the keynote address, sharing with dairy farmers and stakeholders her commitment to support them and to continue to challenge the government on its “disastrous” farming policies.
In a further blow to dairy farming, Parkham Farms confirmed an 8ppl drop for November to 35.5ppl – which marks an 18% reduction. Freshways also announced a 6ppl cut, while dairy co-op Arla Foods confirmed its October milk price will fall by 1.7ppl to 45.34ppl.
House of Commons Library research commissioned by the Liberal Democrats earlier this year showed that dairy farming is already in crisis. Since 2015, the number of dairy farm holdings has fallen by more than 30%, from 12,643 to 8,738. Over the same period, the national dairy herd has declined by almost 90,000.
‘The one-sided contracts’
Sarah Dyke MP said that these price cuts are yet another blow to farmers already under enormous pressure from high costs, uncertainty around future support, and extreme weather.
“The one-sided contracts that allow buyers to slash prices in this way are unacceptable and unsustainable.
“I have raised this many times in Parliament, and I will continue to press the government to act. The Agricultural Supply Chain Adjudicator must be given the resources, powers and scope to launch investigations and enforce standards. Or combined with the Grocery Code adjudicator to give it more strength. Farmers do not need another passive body – they need an adjudicator with teeth,” she added.
The MP noted that the Liberal Democrats have been calling for the Agricultural Supply Chain Adjudicator (ASCA) and Grocery Code Adjudicator (GCA) to be combined, arguing that separating them risks fragmentation and weakens regulatory effort.
The Liberal Democrats have called on the government to bring both regulators together under the GCA, strengthen its powers and resource base, and ensure it is empowered to apply the Principle of Fair Dealing so that farmers receive a fair deal and the long-term future of the British dairy sector is safeguarded.
Ms Dyke, a fifth-generation farmer’s daughter whose family has farmed in the area for 250 years, has taken her place on the Liberal Democrat front bench after being elected to the EFRA Select Committee last year and is also chairing the Rural Services all-party parliamentary group.
‘Farmers face serious financial challenges and disruption’
The union warned that with input costs continuing to rise and farm margins under intense pressure, these cuts risk severely undermining confidence across the entire dairy sector.
Bruce Mackie, chairman of NFU Scotland’s Milk Committee, said: “We are deeply concerned by the news that many Scottish dairy farmers have been hit with damaging milk price cuts. For some, those cuts are at a time when many had been expecting a long-overdue increase, based on recent contractual changes.
“These farmers had legitimate and well-founded expectations of a price uplift this autumn. Instead, they now face serious financial challenges and disruption to their business plans.”
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