ONE of the major players in the county’s dairy industry First Milk has announced it will leave its milk price unchanged in January.

Prices at the farmer-owned co-operative will remain at 27p/litre for liquid producers and 27.9p/litre for those on a manufacturing contract from January 1 2020.

The firm’s last price move was a 0.45p/litre cut for its 800 producers in November.

Vice-chairman and farmer director Jim Baird said: “As we head towards the end of the year the dairy markets appear fairly stable.

“First Milk continues to focus on maximising returns to our farmers and, as we look forward to 2020, we believe we are well placed for the future, as we work together to deliver dairy prosperity.”

First Milk’s Lake District Creamery at Aspatria is supplied with milk from around 250 of the county’s dairy farmers.

Meadow Foods and Arla have yet to announce their milk price for January.

Recently, the dairy processor, announced the winners of its 2019 Responsible Farming Awards.

The awards celebrate those demonstrating excellence in the three categories of Animals, Earth and People, with an additional Chairman’s Award for those showing particular professionalism and dedication to dairy farming.

This year’s winners and those who were highly commended from Cumbria were Earth: Winner: Robert Clark, People: Highly commended: John Harrison.

Commenting on the awards Membership Director, Mark Brooking, said: “These awards reflect the hard work and dedication of these members in key areas of dairy production and celebrate the excellence shown across First Milk’s membership.”