A CLASSIC Monty Python sketch has a bunch of disgruntled Biblical Judeans asking what – apart from providing roads, sanitation, laws, wine and peace – have the occupying Romans ever done for them?

The same might be said of the European Court. It ruled recently that products described as cheese, cream, butter or yoghurt must come from an animal and not a plant. That is a good outcome for a dairy sector under attack from those who tell consumer there are substitutes for milk. The court ruling makes clear this is not the case.

Supermarkets will now have to ensure that is clear on labelling and on where products are positioned on shelves. It can only be a matter of time before similar questions are raised about 'meat terms' on products that contain no meat.

This is a good use of the European Court. If, post-Brexit, the UK opts out, key questions are whether its rulings will stand and more importantly how a similar challenge would be brought. For now farmers can enjoy a victory, which will ensure non-dairy cheese can no more be called that than margarine can be called butter.

Another positive for dairy farmers were comments by the farm commissioner, Phil Hogan, on improvements in markets. This was part of a wider review of agricultural markets. His message was that stability has returned, although there are still some concerns.

One is the fact that there is 350,000 tonnes of skim milk powder in intervention, and selling this could destabilise recovery. In dairy, recovery has come after two historically difficult years in 2015 and 2016, when global markets plunged, with things made worse by the Russian import ban. New markets have been opened, and these are better and potentially more long term and lucrative than traditional cut-price sales to Russia.

The Commission says dairy prices in April were 21% higher than in the same month last year. Farmers could be forgiven for saying 2016 would not be hard to beat, but the average EU price of 33.2 euro-cents a litre has in fact only been topped three times. That was in 2008 and then in 2013 and 2014. This underlines how good 2014 was, and why it drove a surge in production. While times were good in the UK then as well, those were also times when the euro was strong, which held back UK prices.

The price gains in the dairy sector are down to a combination of better global markets and a drop in EU production. This was down by around 2% or 900,000 tonnes in the early months of 2017. Hogan has sought to claim this is down to the Commission's €150 million milk reduction scheme. However he was a reluctant convert to that scheme, and in reality it was price pressure and lack of profitability that forced the reduction.

The Commission scheme did not do a lot more than compensate farmers for decisions already made. Hopefully lessons will be learned about the dangers of an over-enthusiastic response to higher prices. Anyone thinking of moving in that direction needs to remember that stock of skim milk powder. It is a reminder of how bad things got so quickly in late 2015 and 2016.

While skim prices are also recovering, its release could blow that off course. The best outcome remains taking the financial hit and finding a way to dispose of this into a food aid programme, although that in itself could destabilise trade by displacing other products.

After a bad year in 2016, the Commission says beef markets have improved. One of the reasons is pressure coming off the dairy sector, which has reduced dairy cow culling. This has brought about a 'rebalancing' of supply and demand.

But the Commission highlights a core lack of profitability amongst specialised beef producers. This reflects a market that is moving away from quality cuts towards those that can compete with cheaper meats. This has left high end beef production uncompetitive.

Pigs have also see a big recovery after two grim years. Prices are well up on 2016, with the average of €1.76 per kilo 24% higher than this time last year. These gains have been driven by a combination of reduced sow numbers in Europe and a strong export performance. However in a typical pig cycle outcome, that good fortune has left the European price higher than many other countries, and that is threatening the buoyant export market to China.