A DAIRY initiative in Cumbria aims to increase farm gate prices.

The county is one of the country's largest milk producers but dairy farmers receive only an average 17p a litre at the farm gate, about 10p a litre less than ten years ago.

The initiative is spearheaded by Rural Futures, a pilot project set up to help the county's farming community respond to the need for change following the foot-and-mouth crisis and BSE.

Robert Burrow, Rural Futures co-ordinator, said dairy farmers' main concern was the need to improve and maintain the milk price, closely followed by the desire to reduce input costs.

Rural Futures wants to explore the establishment of a Cumbria brand of milk but needs to know if producers think it should be geographically or environmentally based. It also wants to discuss the scope for adding value to locally-produced milk.

Two meetings for producers are being held and the aim is to set up a working group to take the initiative further.

It would involve discussing funding from relevant regional agencies, using the services of a consultant to examine the scope and marketing possibilities of the brand, while taking into account the long-term plans of First Milk and Dairy Farmers of Britain, which are keen to develop their processing business.

The meetings are at the Crooklands Hotel, Milnthorpe, on Monday and the Shepherds Inn, Carlisle, on Monday, June 23. Both start at 7.30 and are open to all Cumbrian dairy producers.