Dairy farmers in Northern Ireland are looking to quit the industry as over 700 dairy cows, some owned by one of the richest families in the area, are being sold at auctions.
Farming income has fallen drastically in the country from £312m to £183m between 2014 and 2015, according to figures. Dairy farmers are reporting huge losses around the UK.
One of the herds being put up for sale was owned by the late Lord Ballyedmond who died in a helicopter accident in Norfolk in March 2014.
The current manager of the farm, John Meade, told Belfast Telegraph: "The family have been very passionate about farming and milking cows but have taken the decision to restructure the farm and cease dairying.
"It's been a very tough decision for the family and one they have not taken lightly, but they wanted to reduce overall losses. We have a modern dairy milking facility here but, with the current climate regarding milk prices, we felt it is better to concentrate on our other farming activities here, including beef and sheep farming."
The situation mirrors many dairy farms around the UK who are putting their herds up for sale. In May this year, a family owned farming business which went back over 100 years sold 700 dairy cattle and announced their intention to withdraw from the dairy industry.
"Over the years the dairy herds have performed very well producing high milk yields at competitive cost but the downturn in farmgate prices over the past two years coupled with a depressing medium to long term outlook for dairy farming forced the business to look very carefully at the prospects for the sector," a spokesman for the company said.
Company chairman Christopher Wilson said: "My family has been farming in eastern England for four generations, well over 100 years, and for two generations in Wales and it is sad for us that we are leaving Wales but we cannot ignore the market place. Despite our best efforts we have reluctantly concluded that we cannot continue under these circumstances."
Painful decision
John Meade said that their decision to sell was a 'painful' one and he said he cannot imagine the pain any farmer has to go through if facing a foreclosure due to lack of cash flow.
"It must be terrible. There are not too many dairy farmers making money, with prices hovering around the 20 pence per litre mark, and some are really struggling to pay bills."
The FUW’s Milk and Dairy Produce Committee Chairman, Rhydian Owen, said the Welsh dairy industry 'continues to reel' under months of continuing low prices and poor profitability and almost half of dairy farmers in Britain have stated an intention to quit the sector.
"The FUW is extremely concerned that any sign of a price recovery may still be some way into the future due to a continuing global supply and demand imbalance. We have now sent a synopsis of the main issues contributing to the current dairy sector crisis to local MPs, MEPs and will be distributing this information further to the newly elected Welsh Assembly members."
Figures released by the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (AHDB) said one in ten dairy farms in England and Wales have closed in the last three years.
The board said 1,002 dairy farms had closed since June 2013, which means the number of producers in England and Wales stands at 9,538. Wales saw a decrease of seven producers on the month and the North and Midlands decreased by five producers each.
NFU dairy board member David Shaw described the current state of UK dairy as 'unsustainable' when many farmers were seeing the prices paid for their milk being cut.
