This was one of the key suggestions from DairyCo’s new board chairman Gwyn Jones at the NFU Northern Dairy Conference at Skipton on Tuesday.
With tensions running high, Mr Jones was forced to defend his eligibility for the role following comments from farmers at the event.
He said: “I can look you in the eye and say I am going to do everything I can to do this job.”
Mr Jones said farmers would only get the most out of their levy body by engaging and telling DairyCo chiefs what they wanted to see from the organisation.
“What we must not do is fight among ourselves,” he said.
Mr Jones outlined some of the changes likely to happen in terms of making AHDB a more joined-up levy body, including rebranding DairyCo as AHDB Dairy.
But he admitted the organisation needed better communication.
Mr Jones said: “We need to move things on. Not everything I am going to be saying and doing is going to be popular.”
Many farmers at the meeting voiced their frustration at the continuing milk price cuts in recent months and this was echoed by Rob Harrison, NFU dairy board chairman.
He said: “I am as angry and disappointed with the recent milk price cuts as everyone else here. It has been a real kick in the teeth.
“For the first time, we have dropped below 10,000 dairy farmers in England and Wales and we can not afford to lose too many more.”
Mr Harrison said if the UK was able to deal with issues in the industry better than other countries, it would be at an advantage when future opportunities presented themselves.
This was a theme underlined by Mr Jones who claimed the dairy sector was a growth market and the UK was losing ground to its European competitors.
Source: Farmers Guardian