British dairy farmers are in a good position for the future but more needs to be done to address supply chain failures and exploit global market opportunities, according to speakers at the Dairy Event & Livestock Show.
An increasing world population meant there would be good demand growth for dairy products and with the UK’s favourable climate for grass-based systems, farmers here were well-placed to meet this opportunity, DairyCo chairman Tim Bennett told a Barclays question time forum.
“But there are some challenges. The supply chain isn’t working as well as it should and there are some big issues with disease. We’ve also got to think outside the domestic market.”
Before changing the structure of the industry, it was vital to work out how best to exploit emerging market opportunities, he said.
NFU deputy president Meurig Raymond was also optimistic about the future and agreed that change was needed, but said the industry first had to make sure it was economically sustainable. This meant all farmers should be receiving at least 30p/litre for their milk, he suggested.
“There has to be a sustainable milk price for farmers to reinvest and increase production in order to tap into world markets. If milk production’s more profitable, we can encourage people into the industry.
In response to a question about whether there needed to be rationalisation of the milk processing sector, Mr Raymond said restructuring would help take costs out of the supply chain. “At the moment we’ve got five or six processors competing with each other, adding cost to the chain. There does need to be some restructuring and rationalisation and more farmer control.”
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