Tesco has been criticised by a farming union after the retailer confirmed that a surge in profits was due to the easing of ‘price pressures’.
The Ulster Farmers' Union (UFU) said farmers across the UK would be 'frustrated' by the supermarket chain's comments.
Tesco confirmed its pre-tax profits hit £2.3bn, up from £882m, while sales rose by 4.4% to £68.2bn in the year to 24 February.
The UK's biggest supermarket chain said price inflation in groceries had "lessened substantially".
But the UFU warned this must not lead to a further correlation on the prices paid to farmers, which remained under pressure from 'aggressive' retailers despite rising costs on farms.
The union's president, David Brown, said farms cannot survive making losses, adding "we have long advocated greater fairness along the food supply chain."
"That cannot go hand in hand with retailers enjoying big profit increases while losses rise on farms," Mr Brown said, adding that "by no standards could that ever be described as fair."
It comes after recent wet weather has worsened the cash flow position of many farms, putting many under even more pressure.
Mr Brown said that this situation made some of the comments from Tesco about its profits 'even more galling' for farmers.
“In many cases, Tesco will have been paid for food off farms, long before farmers have been paid for it," he said.
"The retailer is taking no risks, while farmers struggle with costs, weather, and the incessant pressure from retailers on their margins.
"These figures confirm that Tesco is getting all the rewards, while farmers carry all the risks.
"An effective food chain depends on fairness and these figures confirm that does not exist for farmers,” said Mr Brown.
