‘Act now’ on dairy farming crisis

INDUSTRY leaders warned yesterday that dairy farmers will be forced out of business and consumers will face paying more for milk if urgent action is not taken to address a mounting crisis.

The grave problems engulfing the dairy industry proved to be one of the main topics of discussion on the opening day of the Great Yorkshire Show in Harrogate yesterday.

The vice-president of the National Farmers’ Union, Adam Quinney, claimed that if recent price cuts to farmers were not reversed the national dairy herd size would decrease and as a result consumers would have to pay a lot more for milk.

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Speaking at the Great Yorkshire Show yesterday, Mr Quinney said: “We are facing a really serious situation.

“This is not just about farmers. It is about consumers getting a fair deal as well. We need investment now from retailers and we need prices that reflect production.

“Retailers continually look about things in the short-term. We need to look further than just six months away. I cannot understand the logic of this.”

Yorkshire’s NFU dairy chairman, Martin Burtt, added: “We are going to see an exodus from the dairy industry.

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“The average age of a dairy farmer is now approaching 60. At that age you should be looking to slow down in life, not rev up.

“I would ask the question from those making the decisions, ‘where is the milk going to come from?’”

Members of the NFU wore T-shirts bearing the question “Will we be here next year?” during the show in a bid to raise awareness.

The issue was so severe it reached the Deputy Prime Minister’s Questions yesterday.

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Nick Clegg said he is well aware of the concerns of dairy farmers in his own constituency in South Yorkshire and pledged the Government will listen closely to the issues raised at the “dairy summit”.

“I certainly, like many members across the House, have met dairy farmers in my constituency who are very distressed by the fluctuating prices in the milk and dairy market,” the Sheffield Hallam MP said.

“It is something the Defra department is actively engaged with and I know they will be looking very closely at the representations that will be made.”

During the show itself, farmer after farmer warned that they would be forced out of business if there was not a quick reversal of the cuts announced in June and now due to be repeated from August 1.

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Almost all put up their hands when asked if they would be willing to start pouring milk away in a protest which is being threatened to coincide with the Olympics.

Two influential charities, supported by author Bill Bryson and entrepreneur Deborah Meaden, have come together campaign on the chronic failures of the UK milk market.

The Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE) and the World Society for the Protection of Animals (WSPA) issued a joint statement in which they said they believe that “for too long there has been a cycle of boom and bust resulting in lost livelihoods and economic uncertainty for dairy farmers”.

It added: “This has driven more and more of them out of business with damaging consequences for our landscapes, local food production, animal welfare and consumers.”

Many fear that the UK could become more reliant on imports of milk produced to poorer welfare standards.