Gap between milk production and demand ‘not sustainable’

A 25 per cent surge in farm milk production which is not backed by growth in demand for fresh milk products in Scotland is not sustainable and has significant environmental consequences, dairy farmers were told yesterday.

But the news that fresh milk processor Müller Milk & Ingredients would conduct both a short-term and a strategic review of its operations on this side of the Border triggered concerns for the 230 producers supplying the dairy.

Rob Hutchison, Müller’s supply and operations director, said that, while milk was still a staple in 96 per cent of the nation’s fridges, demand had been slipping year on year.

“However, production from Scottish farms who supply us is up by 25 per cent since 2014,” he added.

As a result, Müller was transporting 180 million litres a year – equivalent to 33 litres of additional milk for every person in Scotland – to dairies in England to find a market for it.

“The financial and environmental cost of moving this volume of milk is substantial and we must work urgently with farmers who supply us and other industry stakeholders to review a range of measures to address this increasingly unsustainable situation both in the short and longer term.”

He said the company – which last year completed the single largest investment in fresh milk processing in Scotland in more than a decade at its dairy at Bellshill – would discuss the issue over the next month with the Müller Milk Group, the elected farmer board that represents suppliers.

Chairman of NFU Scotland’s milk committee John Smith said the announcement was of concern for all Müller producers in Scotland.