Farming in crisis as prices continue to drop

‘Farmers are more prone to suicide than almost any other professional group. They see themselves as failures, particularly if they’ve inherited their land.’

THE president of the National Farmers Union (NFU) believes farmers could be driven to suicide as the industry faces a ‘‘perfect storm’’ caused by falling prices for milk, lamb, beef and cereals.

‘‘I’ve never known confidence to be so low, in particular in dairy farming,’’ said Meurig Raymond, who runs a 3500-acre farm in Pembrokeshire raising crops, cattle, sheep and dairy cows. ‘‘The whole future of dairy farming is in the balance.

‘‘Farmers are more prone to suicide than almost any other professional group. They see themselves as failures, particularly if they’ve inherited their land. I worry about farmers on small units – whether dairy or other kinds – who have only known farming their whole lives and tend to be more isolated.’’ He urged farmers to look out for their neighbours.

Raymond’s comments follow a week of protests in which dairy Meurig Raymond, National Farmers Union president farmers cleared shop shelves of milk and used their tractors to blockade supermarket distribution centres.

There are fears some may go further by adopting French-style tactics of spraying slurry, burning tyres and setting up road blocks in towns and cities.

‘‘Some feel they’ve got their backs against the wall,’’ said David Handley, chairman of Farmers for Action. ‘‘The vast majority of our farmers do not agree with such tactics but I have heard some are trying to encourage people to get out and do these things.’’

Handley, who helped organise protests against fuel prices in 2000, will join other farm leaders at a summit in London tomorrow, where they will call on the government to help the industry.

This weekend the Prince of Wales said more should be done to support small farmers’ crucial role in protecting wildlife and food security. Yet some argue the problems will pass and point out the value of agricultural land is rising. Figures compiled by the estate agency Knight Frank show an average 43 per cent increase over the past five years.

‘‘If things are so bad, why are people wanting to buy land?’’ asked Dieter Helm, an Oxford economist and author of Natural Capital: Valuing the Planet. ‘‘The NFU are one of the most effective lobbying groups in this country but represent an industry which accounts for only 0.7 per cent of GDP and receives one-third of its income in the form of explicit subsidies and . . . further assistance in the form of special tax breaks.’’

Last week’s protests came after Arla, the country’s biggest milk co-operative, announced it was cutting the price it pays farmers to 23.01p (NZ 54 cents) per litre.

Some farmers have long-term deals with supermarkets including Tesco, Sainsbury’s and Marks & Spencer, which means they still receive more than 30p a litre, the sum they say it costs to produce the milk. However, most farmers sell to dairies or brokers and are getting far less – in some cases, as little as 14p a litre.

The average farm-gate price of milk in June was 24p, down from 31.6p at the same time last year and the lowest for five years. Raymond said the price was due to a ‘‘perfect storm’’ of oversupply of milk on global markets, the collapse in demand from China for powdered milk, a ban by Russia on food imports from the EU, and the strength of the pound.

He also accused British retailers of taking advantage of price pressures.

Prices have also fallen in other farming sectors. New-season lamb is down 20 per cent year on year, while beef prices have dropped by more than 10 per cent since 2013. Wheat prices in June have slumped by 25 per cent year on year, with barley and oilseed rape down by a similar amount.

The British Retail Consortium said: ‘‘Retailers are giving great support to dairy farmers, through collaboration with groups of farmers to get the best milk price [as well as] clear labelling of the country of origin on cheese and butter.

‘‘Unfortunately, this only helps a proportion of farmers, as much of the UK’s dairy output is subject to the global market and the recent downturn has meant prices have fallen for many farmers.’’