The message to milk buyers and retailers today is that the Great Milk Robbery is unfinished business.Dairy industry 'sleepwalking' into disaster
WITH milk production at its lowest level for 20 years, a stark warning that Britain is ‘sleepwalking’ into a dairy industry disaster has been issued by NFU Cymru’s milk board chairman, Mansel Raymond.
With more than one producer a week selling off their dairy herds, he says belated Government recognition of a threat to future food supplies had probably come too late to stop the exodus.
Mr Raymond, who produces milk, beef, sheep, potatoes and cereal crops on 2,800 acres in Pembrokeshire with his twin brother, NFU deputy president Meurig Raymond, said the number of dairy producers in Wales had nearly halved in the past 10 years from 4,270 in 1998 to 2,160 last summer because of rising costs and low returns.
“In just one year we have lost another 63 milk producers in Wales and the number now stands at 2,097. That is more than one producer a week leaving the industry and a drop of nearly 3 per cent.
“But where years ago, when producers retired, there were people in the industry to take up the slack, that is no longer happening,” said Mr Raymond, who is also a First Milk director.
Milk yield slumped from a peak of 14 billion litres in 2002-03 to 12.76 billion litres last year – a ‘massive cutback’ that left the UK only 60 per cent self-sufficient in milk.
The slump is continuing, with 33 million fewer litres produced between April and July this year compared with 2008 – despite the best spring weather conditions for three years.
“There has also been a 2.4 per cent drop in cow numbers and even if confidence comes back to the industry it will take three to four years to turn that around,” he added.
At last the politicians had started to talk about food security, but it would take a long time to achieve security in milk and would only happen if profitability returned, allowing farmers to invest again.
“The supply chain also has its part to play. Retailers have never made so much money and we need to equalise profit margins from top to bottom.
“That requires greater transparency in the food chain, better contracts and links between producers and retailers, increased public sector buying of British produce and financial support to spark the required investment.”
“Money has been pumped into the Irish processing sector and we need it here,” said Mr Raymond, adding that an extra 47,000 tonnes of cheddar cheese had been imported into Britain in the first five months of the year.
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Readers' comments (13)
Anonymous | 25 August 2009 3:17 pm
The politcians need to focus on the overall fairness of the way milk is sold. If it is taken out of the supermarkets hands they would be forced to provide a minimum level to the farmers.
Farmers also need to wake up and smell the cheese. Farmers are good at what they do and that is farming, not politics or negotiating with boards. We need to appoint spokes people who will help farmings PR and fight our corner without reverting back to the old phrases that the public no longer respond to, and the boards are not interested in!!
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a dairy farmer | 25 August 2009 7:34 pm
Disagree with the point that farmers are just farmers, those in the dairy sector belong to the FMCG arena as well - if you don't understand what goes on with the products at the retail end then the business will drive you mad. On the subejct on supply chain potential, there is too much cheddar being produced and not enough specility products to tempt the consumers to open their purse. Do you eat an extra couple of bowls of cerial a day to support the growers?? Thought not. Perhaps the frijj brand needs beefing up to cross over with Innocent brand products too...?
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Anonymous | 25 August 2009 7:41 pm
The lunatics are running the asylum !
Last week we had a DEFRA paper on Food Security & yet we are still loosing skilled dairy farmers in unsustainable numbers. With the UK only self sufficient for 60% of it's requirements how can DEFRA allow this situation to continue.
It is high time the supermarkets & Govt. stopped the games. If they continue to operate in their current manner the future food security of all of us will be at stake.
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Peter Brady | 25 August 2009 8:32 pm
The Tories will gain power by June 2010
We need to hit the ground running
Do it now - chase the NFU, NBA - chase them all - and get them to chase the Tories
DO IT NOW
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Anonymous | 25 August 2009 9:48 pm
where have the nfu in england wales and scotland been for 10 years ? others were trying to highlight the problems eg david hanley but have been up against a brick wall because the nfu were sitting on their hands
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Susan Elmes | 25 August 2009 10:35 pm
Paying a really good milk price would turn the tide of dairy leavers, but once the skills have gone, they're gone.
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mic fryatt | 26 August 2009 7:33 am
yep the nfu are too scared to support you guys maybe you should be too pissed off to pay them maybe then they'll get back to what they should be doing supporting the british farmer!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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RAchel Risdon | 26 August 2009 8:42 am
I don't agree that once the skills are gone they're gone, you only have to look at how the NZ industry works to see that if we only had a better entry scheme, keen people can learn those skills. As a farm animal vet I would also say that it is quite apparent that many 3rd+ generation farmers do not actually have the good stockman skills that some new entrants have.
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M Stoneman | 26 August 2009 3:33 pm
The World is changing...you must accept that there are increasing numbers of Vegans..in particular among the young.
If you really want to feed people then grow what they want to buy.
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Peter Brady | 26 August 2009 6:33 pm
M Stoneman - what do Vegans want that isn't being grown already - I read in the weekend's papers that even the 500 Vegans in Prison (VIPs ?) get vegan meals to accomodate their beliefs!
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