GROWING difficulties facing dairy farmers have been highlighted by in Parliament by Mid Worcestershire MP Peter Luff. One Commons motion is on the poor price of milk to farmers and the other the failure of Government to deal with bovine TB.

The first motion notes with concern the drop in farmgate prices for milk while supermarket margins on milk have increased significantly, is concerned that the average dairy farmers earns just £2.90 an hour for a 70-hour week and calls on the Government to toughen up the Supermarket Code of Practice and do more to encourage farmers' co-operatives to ensure a fair and equitable distribution of the retail price of milk.

The second motion points out that TB is threatening a growing number of dairy farmers every year and that further delay in action in unacceptable. It calls on government to take practical measures immediately to eliminate TB from both cattle and wildlife.

Mr Luff commented: "I know that local dairy farmers are very worried about their future. The complacency of the government really worries me. Dairy farming is important to both the economy and the environment of Worcestershire and urgent action is needed to tackle the very legitimate and well founded fears of local farmers."

l FARMERS urgently need to assess the cashflow impact of imminent changes to EU subsidies warns the Association and Chartered Certified Accountants.

Val Culley, ACCA regional spokesman for the West Midlands, explained: "Farmers must make a claim for the Single Payment Scheme by May 16, 2005. However, the payment window stretches from December, 2005, to June 2006.

"Although the Government plans to make the payments by 2005, with a new system to bed-in, on farm checks to be made and all the administrative reorganisation to be carried out at the Rural Payments Agency, it could be anytime up to June, 2006, before payment is received. As a result, money that would previously have reached bank accounts in 2005 will be delayed until 2006, which will have a major impact on cash flows."