Amsterdam, June 2 - Dutch dairy farmers will end a blockade of a milk factory on Monday after a court ruled the action to protest against low wholesale milk purchasing prices must be halted, the Dutch Dairymen Board (DDB) said.
The factory in Nijkerk, owned by dairy group Friesland Foods, has been blockaded since Tuesday when the board launched a boycott on delivering milk to dairy companies to protest against the low prices.
Dutch farmers have also sprayed milk over fields and let children swim in pools of milk as part of their action.
The DDB, which provides about 30 percent of the Netherlands' milk production, has said farmers are being squeezed by high production costs estimated at around 45 eurocents per kg -- well above milk prices at around 30-35 eurocents a kg.
Thousands of dairy farmers in several EU countries, notably in Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands, have protested recently over dramatic falls in local milk prices.
They have blamed the price falls on an EU decision made in April to raise national milk production quotas by 2 percent, a move aimed at calming soaring prices and meet rising demand.