Scotland’s dairy herd shrinking

Although the average size of Scottish dairy units continued to rise during 2019, this failed to offset the relentless downward trend in the overall number of farms milking cows – meaning that the total number of cows dipped over the past year.

Figures released yesterday by the Scottish Dairy Cattle Association showed that, with 879 units milking 178,490 cows, there were 12 fewer herds and 1,048 fewer cows.

But while 27 dairy farms stopped producing milk, 15 new ones started – as new set-ups or farms bought and restarting dairying.

The annual statistics also showed that the average herd size now stands at 203, up two on the year.

Commenting on the figures, NFU Scotland milk committee chairman John Smith, a dairy farmer from Kintyre, said that it had been a challenging year for Scottish dairies.

“Question marks remain over the future for the Aberdeenshire producers served notice in October 2019,” said Smith. who added that discussions continued with Muller and other bodies to facilitate a secure future for dairying in the North-east.

He added that while no buyers had been found for the Campbeltown Creamery, at least as members of the farmer-owned First Milk local producers continued to have their milk collected.

“Dairy farming is capital intensive, has high labour requirements and is constantly adapting to legislative change or consumer demands,” said Smith.

“For dairy farming to thrive, the industry needs a profitable return from producing milk to allow that level of necessary reinvestment.”