Marchers warn
Marchers warn
of dairy disaster
By Isabel Davies
ABOUT 200 dairy farmers gathered outside the Houses of Parliament on Wednesday to warn the government that their industry is on the verge of collapse.
After completing the final leg of the NFUs Fair Share of the Bottle 300-mile campaign march, farmers gathered in Parliament square. They were addressed by NFU president Ben Gill before lobbying their local MPs as part of another attempt to raise awareness about plummeting prices.
Producers were accompanied by a customised float transporting a giant milk bottle showing how low the farmers share of the price of a bottom of milk is.
The float has led the march since it set off from Carlisle two weeks ago.
Prior to a short adjournment debate on the dairy industry, farmers told MPs that urgent help was needed if the sector was to survive. Producers could not continue when they were receiving such low prices.
NFU president Ben Gill said: "Processors and retailers must recognise that we need a Fair Share of the Bottle. Their disproportionate market strength is one of the key reasons that we are in this mess.
"And the governments refusal to pay agrimoney aid – part of which would benefit dairy farmers – is adding to our problems.
"We are trying to help ourselves out of this crisis but we need help from the government and the rest of the food chain."
To highlight the point and to coincide with the marchers arrival in the capital the NFU released a state of the industry report called Crisis in Dairy Farming.
According to the report, unless prices paid to producers are increased, the industry faces "meltdown" and the institution of the British pint could disappear.
The sheer number of dairy farmers being forced to leave the industry is threatening Britains ability to provide enough milk to meet domestic needs, it warns.
Too quickly
Too many farmers are leaving too quickly, it says. And if this continues to happen the remaining farmers may be unable to adapt quickly enough to make up the supply.
It reveals that between June 1998 and June 1999 more than 5000 dairy farmers and farm workers left the industry.
And the long term picture is equally depressing – in the last four years 16% of the 26,800 dairy holdings in England and Wales went out of production.
A 30% price drop has left producers at the bottom of the European league table for milk prices. Prices fail to cover even the average cost of production of 11p/ pint, the report says.