MAJOR coffee retailers are being urged to buy Scottish milk in a bid to help the struggling dairy industry.
Environment Secretary Richard Lochhead has written to businesses including Costa Coffee, Starbucks and Cafe Nero as well as fast food chains McDonald's and Burger King, asking them to commit to buying homegrown produce.
He said the firms had the ability to make a "massive difference" with Scots spending £80,000 in coffee shops every day, and that businesses should "take their responsibilities seriously".
In a Holyrood debate, he said that volatile global markets and wet weather conditions had led to "exceptional" challenges this year for agriculture, with a series of factors, including exchange rates, creating a "perfect storm" across the sector.
A global oversupply of milk has led to plummeting prices, beef prices have remained sluggish and lamb prices have also been low partly as a result of slow growth due to poor grass.
He said: "We must all of us – governments, consumers, and food companies – do what we can to support our farmers and crofters in their hour of need.
"Retailers and the food service sector account for £200 billion of sales in the UK. In the face of very poor weather and low lamb and milk prices, these companies can clearly make a massive difference and must take their responsibilities seriously.
"Scotland’s food and drink growth sector is now worth more than £14 billion and I want more of this success to filter down to primary producers and the rest of the supply chain."
He added that the Government was "pulling out all the stops" to make Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) payments to farmers by the end of December.
But Labour accused the Scottish Government of failing Scotland’s agriculture sector.
Sarah Boyack, the party's environmental justice spokeswoman, said: "There is a shocking lack of ambition from the Scottish Government to tackle the agriculture sector’s current problems and get it ready for a strong future."
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