Change needs to come soon
A WELCOME transformation has happened on the farm over the last couple of weeks. From a position where the fields looked more like part of the Gobi Desert, we have now an abundance of fresh green grass that the cows are enjoying. We managed to keep production up during the dry weather with the introduction of good quality big bales and an increase in concentrates. I am glad to say we have now returned to normality with a slight drop in cake and no silage, only grass. Our milk buyer wanted us to decrease milk production in May in fear of having too much, which was understandable at the time. Now the fear is that there may not be enough in the autumn as the fall in production is faster than usual and markets are beginning to slowly open. It is a real job keeping everyone happy in this game.
It’s strange to see how the Covid-19 pandemic has affected different dairy farming businesses in different ways. We all live in the same region and are producing the very same product, but the big difference is that we sell to different buyers. The gap in milk prices over the last couple of months have in some cases have been more than 10p/l, if you can get paid that is. This is just not right and there must be better and fairer contractual agreements in place going forward. NFU Cymru is pushing hard for this change and I hope it comes soon.
I am happy to hear that Welsh Government has finally come out with the Welsh Dairy Support Scheme for those farmers who have suffered financially because of the pandemic. NFU Cymru has been pushing for the eligibility of the scheme to be based on a loss of 25% of income based on volume, which seems very reasonable as we were told to cut production, dry cows off and feed milk to calves, all whilst most of us suffered a price drop on top. However, Welsh Government has decided to base eligibility on milk price, whereby seasonality, deductions and the tipping milk will not be accounted for.
Our farm had to take a 2p cut as well as put restrictive production levels in place as a direct result of Covid-19 and the subsequent restrictions. For the last three months alone the loss in revenue is well over £20,000. You would have thought I would have some chance in numbing some of the financial pain from this pandemic, however I am not eligible for the scheme. It’s immensely frustrating that I, and many farmers in a similar position, will miss out on this support because we do not meet the new eligibility criteria. I would urge Welsh Government to revise the criteria to give businesses like mine the support they need.