Farmers powerless in the face of 'mighty machines'
The chairman of Dairy UK, David Curry told a major farming conference this week that there has never been a time when farmers felt so powerless in the face of "mighty machines".
Although Foot and Mouth disease brought terrible trauma and personal tragedy to the industry, farmers knew that eventually there would be a way through however Mr Curry said they now feel a real sense of oppression and find it virtually impossible to plan ahead with any degree of certainty.
Mr Curry, speaking at the launch of the Welsh Dairy Event in Carmarthen said even when farmers are able to "hang on" in the face of current milk price levels there is precious little scope for investment in the business and this is, inevitably, bad news for the industry.
Mr Curry said that there was no point in seeking some sort of escapism from the realities of the economic or political situation – such as trying to opt out of the process of world trade liberalisation or "trying to crawl back into the womb of some sort of re-incarnated MMB."
He said that two great forces are shaping agriculture - globalisation and changing consumer demands as we saw the multiplication of single-person households and the break-up of the traditional family environment. This inevitably meant a generational change in the demands of consumers both in terms of what they ate and their outlook on the world.
Mr Curry invited his audience of farmers to look in their own family fridges and see the products which would not have existed a few years ago- pro-biotic yogurts, yogurt drinks, prepared meals, pre-washed salads, even pre-mixed drinks. He also listed some of the political issues which had emerged recently – food miles, obesity, fat content, Make Poverty History- which were just as much part of a generational change.
The Dairy UK chairman pointed out that quota in the UK was migrating to the areas with the most favourable natural conditions – SW Scotland, the western part of Wales, Northern Ireland and Cumbria. He expected that there would be a development in contractual relationships between farmers and buyers, including retailers but argued strongly for a review of competition policy so that the supply chain would have the possibility of consolidation and rationalisation to be able better to supply the market and negotiate with the retail sector.
Mr Curry also forecast the continued development of branded products and functional foods, continuing the "very necessary" trend towards the "de-commoditisation" of the milk sector.
