Farmers see red at white stuff ad snub

The last advertisements for The White Stuff campaign, featuring Rolf Harris and George Best, will be screened next month.

The ad costs are split 50/50 between all dairy farmers, paying a levy of 0.06 per penny per litre they produce, and the dairies such as Unigate, Express Dairies and Dairy Crest. The campaign has been so successful that an extra 64 million litres of milk are now drunk in Britain since it began.

Just this month it won an award for being the best dairy campaign in the world, but the Dairy Council board, which fronts the White Stuff campaign and is made up of both farmers and dairies, decided to halt the £9 million campaign after a vote to allow the results to be assessed.

However, Dorset farmers claim that dairies represented by the Dairy Industry Federation have pulled out of the deal for economic reasons only.

Simon Banfield, Dorset chairman of the National Farmers' Union said: "Farmers are furious about this - we want the adverts to carry on. This is only being done because the dairies are worried about their falling share prices and don't want to pay their share any more, whereas farmers are committed even though they are not in profit.

"Farmers need this campaign - it's the most successful we've ever had and people are buying more milk." The farmers are backed by the Milk Development Council.

A spokesman said: "The DIF notified us at the end of October that the trade wished to defer a decision on whether to continue the jointly funded campaign for a six-month period. The MDC is disappointed that the campaign should falter at this stage."

She said the last flurry of ads to be shown over Christmas were being funded solely by farmers.

A Dairy Council spokeswoman said: "It was a decision of the board after lengthy discussion to put the campaign on hold.

"It is obvious that because of the way the board is made up of both farmers and producers, not everyone is in agreement at all times."