Dairy farmers in Normandy are planning to throw away thousands of litres of milk on September 25 to protest against what they say are unfair prices.

Independent milk producers’ union Apli’s strike comes a year after a series of major protests in the region, where farmers stopped production for weeks on end and spread their wasted milk on fields in the bay of the Mont Saint Michel and in town and village centres.

The latest strike follows a series of heated negotiations between farmers and industrialists over milk prices. The two sides have agreed on €330 per 1,000 litres until the end of September and e301 for the rest of the year; however, farmers say this is not enough to earn a decent living.

André Lefranc, a dairy farmer in Vains in the Mont Saint Michel bay and a local Apli representative, said farmers earned less than the legal minimum wage, even though the job requires work from dawn to dusk.

He and his wife have had to put their savings into keeping the business afloat, a 160-hectare farm breeding 170 dairy cows. To achieve the yearly production of 930,000 litres, the couple have hired two permanent staff, but can hardly afford to continue paying them.

Mr Lefranc told The Advertiser: “There was an agreement in June last year which was very low, and the current discussions look like a puppet theatre where the same performance is played every year.

“The industrialists have not followed the agreement, which was pathetic anyway. They always lay down some conditions and this time will be no different.

Mr Lefranc added: “We are going to agree on a price, but in return they will ask us to increase production by three per cent, five per cent, 10 per cent or even 15 per cent.

“That way, they can put their butter and powder machines back on full speed and make more money. And next year, we start again: the market will be saturated, we cannot sell our products, so we cut our prices.

“With all the risks taken, our return is pathetic. A profitable price in order to have a decent salary would be €400 per 1,000 litres of milk.”

Like many farmers in the region, Mr Lefranc is having to diversify to help make up for the loss. He is now setting up a workshop producing caramel sweets, which he hopes will be operational by the end of the year.

The milk sector is not the only area of Normandy agriculture that is suffering. Basse-Normandie council is promising financial help to farmers who have seen their maize yields more than halve following a hot, dry summer.