Dairy adion warning
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ROBERT WISEMAN Dairies is warning Scottish dairy farmers that it will not tolerate "direct action". Last week eight milk distribution depots throughout Scotland were blockaded in a protest about milk prices A spokesman for the company said two Wiseman depots were blockaded between 6am and noon: "They were targeting our tankers, trying to prevent them from picking up raw milk from the farms. It was disruptive for our tanker driv ers and caused some inconvenience to our transport operations."
According to the National Farmers Union,700 Scottish family dairy farms have closed since 1999.
• Rising fuel prices continue to exert huge pressure on the distribution business with Aria, the UK's biggest milk supplier, forced to issue a profits warning.
Aria runs 1,500 vehicles and employs 450 drivers.lt provides milk to supermarkets and owns Lurpak and Anchor dairy products.
Aria's fuel bills have been hit by its dairies' use of electricity, the price of which has also been driven up by increasing fuel costs, and by the rising price of plastic milk containers, which are made from oil-based products.
The company has been unable to recoup increased costs by passing them on to its customers.