All of this wasted milk is worth us crying over

Wiltshire farmer Ro Collingborn explains why retailers should look to the long term

THE very sudden announcement of bankruptcy by the haulage company, Lloyd Fraser, at 5pm last Friday, has shocked the dairy industry.

Worst of all, its many tankers have been impounded with drivers unexpectedly out of a job and daily pickups of milk from many parts of the county suspended. This meant that 2,000 farmers had to throw their milk away last weekend – almost 25% of all dairy farmers. There was nothing wrong with the milk but it was very wrong that there were no tankers to collect it for processing.

All around us, dairy farmers have been throwing their milk away. Without all those tankers, carrying out daily farm pick-ups, the position is grim, as there are just not enough spare tankers to go around. This illustrates the knife edge that our dairy industry is on, with very tight margins and little back fat.

Although all the supermarkets claim to be supporting British produce, they currently seem to take no account for costs of production (with the possible exemption of a limited amount of liquid milk).

Cheese had been relatively stable, but is now in a volatile position. Suppliers, who have bought milk when the price was higher and have paid high electricity and storage prices, are unable to recover their costs from a market which is suffering from a cost-of-living crisis. Supermarkets are looking to purchase at lower prices which they can pass on to their customers. This leaves the supply chain severely out of pocket and questioning whether they can go on any longer. Nearly every sector of agriculture has hit a wall in the face of increased costs, which are not passed on to their buyer. Eggs, pork, potatoes, strawberries, raspberries, milk and apples are just a few examples.

UK supermarkets are ruthless in their approach which is very shortsighted. Supermarket buyers change the sector they represent every two years, to stop them building up a good relationship with their supplier. Payment terms are 90 days, when a farmer has to pay his invoices monthly. I have to ask, which of them is better off and best able to stand an adverse cashflow?

Although customers value lower prices, they also want to buy British from a sustainable industry, and this industry is currently being crushed. Imports are increasing – in the case of cheese, imports are over a billion pounds and rising. If our home industry is put out of production, or exports most of its produce, will these cheaper alternatives be available, as climate change destroys crops elsewhere and disease flourishes? In countries such as Ireland and Holland there are nitrate derogations being phased in which could severely restrict production. Long-term food production is likely to become a lot more expensive.

Producers are starting to look at long-term strategies, seeking to export as this will make them less dependent on the UK home market.

In the case of cheese, retailers knew last year that there was a problem, but negotiations took no account of need to recover the higher milk price or storage issues. Retailers are behaving in such a ruthless way that no one would supply them if there was a choice.

It’s very hard for a smaller producer to scale up without going into supermarkets. In France and some other countries, supermarkets have an area dedicated to local produce. This could be flagged up as a ‘Farmers’ Market’ section and provide a stepping stone to scaling up. Although it seems an obviously good idea to me, such innovation seems to be lacking. We need retailers operating in the UK to take more responsibility for our UK market, together with an allowance in price for costs

of production. The home market is likely to be of a higher standard than imports. UK produce is farm assured, which brings with it lots of paperwork and the need for buildings and cattle welfare to be up to scratch.

We have full traceability for all our cattle, with passports and double ear tagging. There is legislation to make sure we look after the environment and water quality.

EU grants like the Basic Premium in particular are being phased out before an alternative has been put in place. The new grant scheme which has been delayed looks to be more complicated and much less remunerative than what went before, with heavy emphasis on the environment. Labour costs on farm have also shot up, whereas exports are generally

produced with lower costs, and less regard for the environment and cattle welfare.

Any farmer’s wife will know that she now spends considerably more time chained to her desk form filling. It’s a no-brainer that she would rather be outside on the farm.

In a recent survey 46% of our dairy farmers experienced poor mental health than other occupations. And where are the figures for the farmers’ wives?

Two thousand farmers had to throw their milk away last weekend – almost 25% of all dairy farmers