Last Monday I was watching the One Show on BBC One when presenter Matt Baker made a passionate plea that we, as a nation, should value milk more than we do. He stated that milk should not be cheaper than water.

Of course Matt Baker is from a farming family, and as a past chairman of the English & Welsh Young Farmers, he knows the impact that the downturn in commodity markets is having on many hard working farming families across the UK.

Like many of us, I’m often told by friends and colleagues that people are willing to pay more than they do but that price matching between retailers makes it difficult for them to know when their milk purchase actually benefits Scottish farmers.

We know that a number of retailers have schemes which ensure that farmers are paid a higher price for their milk.  For a number of businesses, this has been important in ensuring that they buck the current milk price downturn.

Elsewhere though, Scottish dairy farmers who see their milk used in the production of butter, cheese and other products, or are reliant on their milk being brokered are finding their milk price skimming the bottom of a deflated market.  That is despite the overwhelming public opinion that milk should be properly valued and that farmers should be paid a fair share of the final product.

Last month Morrisons launched the latest product in its initiative of giving shoppers the option to pass more money back on to farmers – “Cream For Farmers” allows shoppers to pay 10p more per carton, which will go directly back to farmers.

The success of Morrisons’ “Milk For Farmers” initiative demonstrates the desire amongst shoppers to support a sustainable Scottish farming industry and we’d continue to urge shoppers to support farming wherever they can.

However, the creation of a two-tier market on own-label products does cause confusion for some. Shouldn’t all milk be “Milk For Farmers”?

Perhaps the importance of this initiative isn’t that a supermarket has found a novel way to appear to do more for farmers, but that it is actually demonstrating that shoppers are genuinely willing to pay more, even when presented with a choice.

We must, as a farming community, show our appreciation of these shoppers. We now know that people are willing to pay more when they know products give a greater (fairer) share back to farmers.  We want to see the supply chain learn the lessons from this, not just in milk, but in vegetables, eggs and meat too.