Farmers call on EU for fair milk pricing

Published on Friday 19 June 2009 21:51

MILK might not be the favoured tipple of most Scots, but the dairy farming sector, which is now down to barely 1,300 active producers in Scotland, is a considerable contributor to the economy with an output equating to a share of 12.5 per cent of the GDP of Scottish agriculture's bottom line of £2.1 billion.

Dairy farmers are feeling neglected across the European Union and over the weekend as many as 3,000 producers with at least 1,000 tractors will make their case outside the European Commission headquarters in Brussels ahead of a meeting of the agricultural council meeting on Monday in Luxembourg where Allan Bowie, vice-president of NFU Scotland, will press the case for his members.

Bowie intends to make the point that the politicians of the EU must wake up to the fact that food security is becoming an important issue, especially in the wake of recent statistics revealing that production of virtually every commodity is in decline. Farmers, according to Bowie, simply, will not produce unless they receive a worthwhile price for their efforts.

That contention was also made plain yesterday by Richard Lochhead, the Cabinet secretary for rural affairs in the Scottish Government.

Writing in the latest newsletter from Scottish Milk and reflecting on the recent "milk summit" at Holyrood, he said: "Scottish milk production, in tandem with the rest of the UK, has been falling for several years.

"Frankly, unless farmers feel there is a future and a decent living to be had from milking cows, they will stop doing so."

Last year was a better period for UK milk producers. However, since the turn of the year the average ex-farm price has dropped from almost 27p per litre to 24p per litre at the end of April: there have been further declines since then.

UK prices have tended to remain ahead of those prevailing throughout most of the EU as a result of a decline in production of close on 1 billion litres in less than three years, which leaves the UK market short of the quota allowance of 13 billion litres.

The collapse of the co-op Dairy Farmers of Britain just over two weeks ago has resulted in further pressure on the industry. Fortunately, around 1,600 former members have found new outlets for their milk.

But it seems clear that at least 200 smaller producers, mostly in the Yorkshire Dales and the Lake District, will be unable to find alternative buyers.

The major clearing banks have expressed a willingness to help in the short term, but the prospects of future returns from milking relatively small herds of cows look increasingly bleak.