The Courier & Advertiser (Angus and Dundee)
Number of Scots dairy herds falls to record low
Farms in Tayside and Fife among those giving up in the last six months
Three dairy farms in Fife and one unit in Angus have given up milking cows in the last six months.
The latest statistics from the Scottish Dairy Cattle Association (SDCA) show a national reduction of 33 herds since January, but cow numbers have been stepped up and average herd sizes are now the highest in history.
In Scotland, there are 924 dairy herds, the lowest number since records began in 1903.
They include eight herds in Angus, 20 herds in Fife, three herds in Kinross, four herds in Perthshire, and 34 herds in Stirlingshire.
Dairy cow numbers have increased in Scotland by 2,622 to 175,928 head to make it the highest total since 1997. The average herd size is 191 cows. According to SDCA secretary Janette Mathie, the picture for the next six months is mixed.
“We know of a number of herds coming out of milk production, but we also know of some completely new herds starting up before the end of the year,” she said.
“I think the trend of less herds and more cows per herd will continue.”
Dairy herds that are officially milk recorded have increased by 102 to 649.
SDCA believes this is partly due to EU financial incentives but also to milk buyers and farmers realising the financial benefits of improving milk quality and lowering somatic cell counts as well as other benefits such as pregnancy checking and disease testing.
Ayrshire continues to be the largest dairying county with 222 farms and 34,440 milking cows closely followed by Dumfriesshire with 154 herds and 32,185 cows. The largest average herd sizes are Berwickshire at 568 cows.
Meanwhile, in an attempt to halt the decline of dairy farmers in the north-east, a group of producers have rallied together to form an organisation with a view to potentially building a new milk processing plant for the region.
The North-East Milk Producers Organisation comprises 26 farmers who produce a combined total of 54 million litres of milk every year.
The group’s chairman, Roy Mitchell, who farms near Inverurie, said the organisation was formed in response to dairy giant Muller’s decision to close its Aberdeen milk processing plant last summer.
Closure of the plant has resulted in the bulk of the company’s suppliers in the region having to pay a transport levy of 1.75p a litre to have their milk transported south for processing.
Mr Mitchell said the levy was costing the average farmer in the region around £35,000 a year, and claimed that the organisation was the natural next step on from work carried out by economic development agency Opportunity North East and Aberdeenshire Council into market options for north-east milk.