Act now to secure future milk supply
NFU Cymru is urging Governments at all levels to act now to address the dysfunctions in the dairy supply chain in an attempt to redress current milk price trends and inject some long-term confidence into the sector.
Calls for an increase in milk prices were made by NFU Cymru’s Dairy Board members at a recent meeting following what was described as a double-blow of bad news; that the price Welsh farmers receive for their milk still puts them near the bottom of the EU’s milk price league table, comes just days after a report, launched jointly by NFU Cymru and the NFU revealed that dairy farmers face a £330 million deficit as costs of production outstrip price.
Stephen James, NFU Cymru’s Deputy President said, "Welsh dairy farmers are still not getting a fair market price for their milk, we remain near the bottom of EU milk price league table and in a country where we are only 75-80 per cent self sufficient in dairy products it just doesn’t add up. World markets point firmly towards a growth in demand for dairy products, but the actual price paid to Welsh farmers just doesn’t reflect these market trends."
"It was only last week the Union’s Cost of Milk Production Report revealed that British dairy farmers are, on average, losing more than three pence on every litre of milk they produced. With 11 billion litres of milk produced annually on dairy farms across the country this equals a massive £330 million gap between production costs and the price received by our dairy farmers. It is a very desperate situation."
NFU Cymru is pleased though that the European Commission has acknowledged that there is a clear and significant imbalance in bargaining power between farmers and dairies and a lack of certainty and control about the price farmers receive for their milk.
Maurice Jones, Chairman of NFU Cymru’s Dairy Board said, "Welsh MEPs have a key role to play in influencing and shaping proposals made to the European Commission by the High Level Group on Milk (HLG), we have already been in contact with all our MEP’s to highlight the importance of these proposals to our industry.
"These proposals also provide the UK Government with a unique and powerful opportunity to help address the dysfunctions in the dairy supply chain. We will be calling on our MPs to highlight to the UK Government the significant need for legislation to make the use of written contracts between farmers and dairy companies compulsory and that they include a method of varying the price which has been agreed by the two parties.
"Welsh dairy farmers should be looking forward with confidence, we farm in a part of the world that is well suited to milk production, yet I fear that the prices we currently receive for our milk is causing a slow and painful death for Welsh dairy farmers. Governments at all levels need to act now to secure a future milk supply."
