Tractors block dairies as ministers step into row over milk prices "There won't be any trouble, we're just here to make a statement," said Mr Hemming, vice president of the campaign group Farmers For Action at the latest in a series of blockades to protest at the price dairy farmers are getting for their milk. The police are brilliant, they understand. Even the driver who was forced to park his black and white Wiseman lorry - painted like a cow - outside the factory gates was sympathetic. If they're not being paid what it costs to produce their milk then there's something seriously wrong, isn't there? I'll just wait here all night until they go. Rob Newman, 64, had come from Wolverhampton with an empty lorry, expecting to return full. At least it this isn't France. If it was they'd be setting fire to the trailer. Soon more lorries were parked up behind him, each the cause of empty shop shelves. That was what the protesters wanted, to reinforce their point. They have even threatened to pour milk down the drains if the next price cut happens as expected on August 1. At least a thousand farmers have taken part in protests over the last few days, mostly targeting the three main dairies that act as middle men between farms and the retailers: Arla, Dairy Crest and Robert Wiseman. "The effort involved in getting off the farm is colossal," said Mr Hemmings. It is painful for farmers to come out like this. It just shows the anger we feel. He had left another protest at two o'clock that morning and got up again for milking at five. I am knackered. We all are, but enough is enough. If I kept poking you with a stick then sometime you'd react, wouldn't you? That's how we feel we've been treated over the years. He listed the recent crises from mad cow disease and foot and mouth to bluetongue and bovine tuberculosis. The number of dairy farmers has fallen by 20,000 over the last 16 years, to 14,500. Now they face a drop in prices that Mr Hemmings described as catastrophic. The supermarkets have a stranglehold on us, and they are like uncontrollable teenagers. The numbers are simple. It costs a farmer 29p to supply a litre of milk (although some say it's 30p). That is what most were being paid until June, when the price on offer fell to 27p. Soon it is due to fall again, to 25p. "That will cost us £1,200 a week," said Mr Hemmings, who has 200 dairy cows on his farm in Solihull. We'll be losing money on every litre. My son Edward is a young, skilled farmer, who wants to keep cows, and I love them, but if they're costing us money they will have to go. Farmers for Action say traditional dairy farms will vanish, with a profound effect on the countryside and rural life. Critics say they should adapt to the free market like everyone else. One Wiseman factory worker walking in questioned the wealth on show: "Look at all these 4x4s and Land Rovers. Don't tell me they're poor. Mr Hemmings was having none of it. Our 4x4 has usually got a trailer on the back, moving stock. Yeah, it is fairly plush, but it's a bloody workhorse. And if you worked out the pay we get per hour, for all the hours we do, it would be no better than somebody in the factory here. Farmers for Action has been going for more than a decade, but seen an explosion of interest in the last week. The celebrity chefs Jamie Oliver and Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall have backed the cause, as has the Women's Institute. The Chancellor, George Osborne, even found himself visiting a dairy farm on Friday. The Government cannot directly set the price of milk. Caroline Spelman, the Environment Secretary, and Jim Paice, farming minister, are to meet with farmers on Monday and plan to hold talks with distributors and supermarkets with the aim of negotiating an industry code to govern contracts. Farmers for Action say the Government should use its influence - as well as having a word with the NHS and other government bodies who buy milk in bulk, like supermarkets, and are just as ruthless about the price. There are signs that the message is getting through. On Saturday, Morrisons announced a 5p-a-litre rise in the amount it pays farmers for their milk. It followed a pledge by the Co-op on Friday to raise the price it pays to match the cost of production. Sainsbury's, Tesco and Waitrose already do the same. Asda and Aldi do not, paying 25p a litre. Meanwhile the price of milk on the shelves has been slashed, so that in some places it costs less than mineral water. Their mark up means supermarkets can still make 15p on every litre. "There is a profit in milk, they're just not passing it on," said Douglas Roper, 19, who has a farm in Worcestershire with 70 cows. We are facing a loss of £17,000 a year. That means my brother can't join me when he leaves school. They may end up as part of the generation lost to farming completely. What is the point of getting up early and working yourself into the ground when it just ends up costing you money? Even as he said that, weary farmers were checking their watches. "We've made our statement tonight, we'll stay until midnight then tootle off home," said Mr Hemmings. Got to be up for milking at five.