THE NFU's president Meurig Raymond will meet Cumbrian dairy farmers next week to discuss the milk price crisis.

The dairy sector has been stunned by a series of farm gate price cuts in just a few weeks as world demand continues to fall.

Hundreds of farmers in Cumbria have already been forced to accept cuts of between 7p and 9p a litre. On December 1, those who supply the First Milk co-operative will see further cut of 1.4p for supplying its liquid pool and 1.8p for its manufacturing pool.

Although the meeting on Tuesday is being organised by the NFU’s Cockermouth office, the gathering is open to all NFU members in Cumbria.

Local group secretary David Jones said: “Cumbria is one of the country’s largest and important milk fields yet the farmers within it are being hit the hardest by recent milk price cuts.

"First Milk is a big player in the patch with many NFU members supplying the co-operative. As a business First Milk are very exposed to the commodity market, particularly the cheese market, and for that reason are paying some of the lowest prices to farmers at this present time.

"First Milk’s cuts will leave some suppliers facing unsustainable milk prices as we move into the most expensive time of the year.

"And as the 26 Cumbrian producers who have just been served notice for June 2015 by Lactalis McLelland have found out, finding alternative buyers for your milk in Cumbria is not easy and the NFU strongly believes this has to change.”

Mr Jones added: “All NFU members are welcome to attend this meeting and as well as the current dairy problems, we’ll also be discussing the current turbulence in the beef and sheep markets.”

The meeting is at Hundith Hill Hotel, Cockermouth, from 7.30pm.