AN alternative buyer has been found for the remaining dairy farmers in the region hit by the collapse of a milk cooperative.

There were 1,800 farms, 288 of them in the North-East and North Yorkshire, supplying Dairy Farmers of Britain (DFB) when it went into receivership on June 3.

Although some found alternative customers, there were still about 143 farms, with a significant number of them in this region, without buyers.

But last night receivers PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP (PwC) said it had reached an agreement with Milk Link to provide a contract with a three-month notice period for the remaining DFB farmers.

This option applies to the 143 members still with the cooperative and those that sign up will receive, in the first instance, more than 18p per litre for an industry standard litre.

The 143 farmers who continued to have their milk collected by the receivers were receiving a wholly uneconomic 10p minimum base price, due to high haulage costs and the need to sell the collected milk at commodity prices.

Joint receiver David Kelly of PwC said: “In the first three weeks of the receivership, 1,600 of the 1,800 farmers were able to find alternate buyers for their milk, but some could not – mainly due to the remoteness of their location, or the size of their herd. It is good news that we have been able to find an alternative for the remaining farmers less than a month into the receivership and at a much improved price. Farmers need to take advice, but this is a step forward to sorting out the remaining DFB milk.”

The Milk Link contract, which is effective from tomorrow, has been posted and emailed to the remaining farmers.