This week we're running a poll on FWi asking "Should the Milk Marketing Board be reintroduced?"
This is not because we have even the slightest misapprehension that it could actually happen, but simply because it is now (exactly) 15 years since the Milk Marketing Scheme was abandoned and it seemed like an interesting question to ask!
To mark this anniversary, we've also produced a special feature in this week's Farmers Weekly looking at developments in the dairy sector over the past 15 years. (You can find it on p28/29 if you've not seen it already, or if you've not bought your issue, it's available here, at the click of a mouse!)
It includes interviews with Dairy UK director general Jim Begg and NFU dairy board chairman Gwyn Jones, who give their candid views of change in the dairy sector.
During my interviews with these two "leading lights" I asked both what they thought the outcome of such a poll might be. Jim thought it would be a walk over, suggesting 99% would want the MMBs back. Gwyn was a bit more circumspect, but still expected a majority verdict....
Of course the gut reaction of many will be "yes, bring them back". They will take a quick look at today's situation in the milk market and conclude that things must have been better in the past.
But they would be wrong. In the days of the MMB, the whole dairy sector was plagued with inefficiencies. There was a lackadaisical attitude among farmers and processors towards the marketing of milk. Many dairy farmers were quitting the sector anyway, cashing in their overvalued quotas. And relations between suppliers (the MMB) and buyers (represented by the Dairy Trade Federation) were, at times, poisonous.
Above all, the UK milk price was the lowest in Europe, courtesy of our unimaginative product mix and inefficient distribution system. It was not that great.
Thankfully much has changed and, even though the current economic climate is challenging, the industry is far better placed than it was 15 years ago to compete in the market place and capture added value as the economy recovers. The real challenge is going to be distributing the earnings more evenly along the supply chain.
I for one will be voting "No" on our FWi poll!
* To take part in our poll, visit the FWi home page. And why not test your knowledge of the MMB in our special 15th anniversary quiz?!
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