The farmer protests in Brussels

The farmer protests in Brussels remind us that the problems facing our dairy industry are EU-wide. Indeed they are worldwide as supply is outpacing demand.  

This is bad news for everyone other than the consumer but ironically, at least in this country, I suspect many shoppers would be happy to pay more for their milk if this helps our dairy farmers survive.

However, with supermarkets facing fierce competition they are desperately trying to attract more customers into their shops and a price war on milk has been one of their battle grounds. 

Some movement has been seen in recent weeks with various supermarkets agreeing to pay more for liquid milk and milk being made into their own brands of cheese. But this still leaves many of our dairy farmers producing milk at less than the cost of production which cannot last for long before farmers are forced to quit the industry.

It is the impact these prices have on an individual farmer’s cash flow which is crippling those who do not have sufficient financial resources to survive a downturn such as this.  

That is why the EU has agreed to make 500m euros available for dairy farmers across Europe to help relieve this cash flow crisis.  It is likely this will translate in to around £29m in the UK but my fear is that we will now enter a prolonged argument as to how this money should be allocated with the result that by the time it is eventually paid, it may be too late for some businesses.

When such payments have been made in the past they have usually come on a flat rate basis to every farmer which makes it easier to get the money out quickly.  However, because there is such a broad range of milk prices being paid to dairy farmers I believe this money should be focussed on those receiving the lower milk prices.

Such decisions, and the mechanism for payment need to be agreed quickly and I urge government ministers in DEFRA to focus their efforts on getting this money out as soon as possible. 

They must also continue to fight EU bureaucrats to relax the rules and allow the new Basic Payment Scheme funds to be released as early as possible in England where it is currently feared technical checks may hold up payments when farmers are struggling across all sectors, not just the dairy industry.


James Stephen MRICS FAAV
Partner
Rural Practice Chartered Surveyor, Wells
T: 01749 683381
E: james.stephen@carterjonas.co.uk