The chairman of the NFU’s South West regional dairy board is predicting tough times ahead for the industry as farmers cope with falling milk prices.

But speaking ahead of tomorrow’s (Wednesday's) Dairy Show, dairy farmer Mark Oliver said the NFU would do whatever it could to minimise their impact.

“As the latest round of price drops starts to hit our businesses, with the promise of more to come, once again many farmers are being expected to sell milk below the cost of production. Even after reducing costs, cash flows for the coming 12 months are not looking healthy.

“Of course, the NFU will be working to do whatever it can to make this slump as shallow and as short-lived as possible.

"Many of the factors currently affecting prices are of a global nature, but in the areas that we can affect – including campaigning on behalf of British dairy products and holding retailers to account – you can be sure we will do whatever we can to make a difference.”