Papers focus on biggest UK dairy sale
3 August 2000
Papers focus on biggest UK dairy sale
by FWi staff
THE dispersal sale of the Calthwaite Hall herd of pedigree Jersey cows at Penrith in Cumbria is covered by almost all of Britains daily papers.
Anthony Pattinson and his wife Eve ended 50 years of farming as 550 of their cows were auctioned off in the biggest single dairy herd sale ever seen in the UK.
The Daily Telegraph says Mr Pattinson had decided to quit because farmgate prices were below the cost of production and showing no signs of improving.
He is quoted as saying: A number of factors affected out decision. I am nearly 60, our daughters work outside agriculture and our milking facilities will soon need upgrading. Eventually the decision made itself.
The Daily Mail describes Mr Pattinson as the latest to give up the unequal struggle of trying to make ends meet as a modern dairy farmer.
This theme is continued by the Daily Express which says the Pattinsons are joining an exodus of thousands in the worst farming crisis since the 1930s.
The Guardian observes: for many, the abrupt disposal of the Calthwaite Hall herd – along with three more farm workers – symbolised the deepening crisis in this sector of farming, fuelled by a 30% drop in milk prices in three years.
One more dairy farm disappeared under the hammer, joining an estimated 4,000 which have gone out of business in four years.
According to The Times the sale was a landmark in the farming world.
The sale is the largest dairy auction yet seen and the prices were above expectation, raising 177,996 from buyers from all over the United Kingdom, it says.
- Daily Express, pages 2, 11
- Daily Mail, page 31
- The Times, page 11
- The Telegraph, page 11
- The Guardian, page 13