Dairy Crisis Update - 6th of July 2012

An article from the FWi website records that the Farm Minister Jim Paice MP said that he was a proposed to get processors and the industry to find a future for the dairy industry. During Defra Parliamentary question time,  Mr. Paice MP said "I am concerned, but ministers can't set prices" and continued to say that Defra would hold "a consultation on a compulsory dairy package put forward by the European Union".

Mr. Paice MP said that the "Processors also needed to target growing dairy markets in countries like China so they could do more to support British producers and avoid having to make price cuts".

It is stated by FWi that the latest cuts to the dairy industry would slash as much as £50,000 off the average dairy farm income.

Comments from Dairy Farmers can be seen here.

A video of the meeting at Staffordshire Show Ground and comments from Dairy Farmers can be seen here:

I received a text from the NFU, it reads "Important message to NFU members: I want to give you the heads up that next Wednesday the NFU is holding a large meeting in London to highlight the devastation dairy farmers face due to the recent and proposed price cuts. I hope many farmers in more fortunate sectors than dairy will show support. Please contact your regional office for details on how you could help with support on the day. Many thanks, Peter Kendall"

A link to the regional office for the NFU can be found here. The Farmers Guardian reports that the event is, indeed, taking place on Wednesday with  "exact timing and venue are yet to be finalised. 
Farmers will be invited to turn up in large numbers to demonstrate to politicians, the food chain and the wider public the strength of feeling over the price cuts imposed in the past week by the major UK milk buyers". The article continues to report that the "NFU president  Peter Kendall said the union was planning to stage a ‘very large gathering’ in London next week to raise the profile of the crisis.
“I have never known in all my time in the NFU such strength of feeling and anger among our members,”".


More information to come when it is published and keep an eye on the Farmers Guardian, the Farmers Weekly, the NFU and Ian Potter Associates. There is also a new Facebook page that has arisen in the last day.

Is Great Britain in a dairy crisis?

It can be said that the dairy farms and their industry has contributed to the green fields image of the British countryside and the industry is a major player in Britain's industrial profile. The National Farmer's Union (NFU) records "12,500 dairy farmers in Great Britain, milking 1.56 million dairy cows and producing more than 11.5 billion litres of raw milk".

The Farmers Weekly reported that over 500 milk producers "heard calls for direct action over dairy prices during a heated meeting at the Staffordshire Showground on Wednesday (4 July)" at Staffordshire Showground after four major dairy and milk processors dropped the milk price up to 2 pence per litre. Ian Potter Associates has reported that the proposed price increase of 0.26 pence per litre for suppliers of liquid milk to Sainsburys from the 1st of July and it also reported the proposed decreases (from the 1st of August) of 1.65 pence per litre from Dairy Crest/DCD liquid suppliers and 2 pence per litre from Arla/AFMP suppliers.

On the fifth of July, a meeting is to take place between the NFU president, Peter Kendall, and Farmers for Action chairman, David Handley, to solve the current problems that are crippling today's dairy industry. The NFU reports that these problems include the latest round of price cuts from Robert Wiseman Dairies, Arla Foods UK and Dairy Crest.

The Grocery Industry Trade Communications site records 50 dairies, milk, yoghurt and egg manufacturers and suppliers.

The Farmers for Action group report today (5/7/2012) that "all milk processors to reinstate all price cuts that have taken place since 1st of April 2012" and "They have until 1 August 2012 to confirm that this will be done, if not they will need to notify their retail customers that milk distribution will be seriously disrupted." These proposed milk prices and potential action may have short term effects for the Olympic Games and long term effects for the consumer and the milk producers.

London Business Network records that the Olympic Village for London 2012 will require 75,000 litres of milk and reports that "London 2012 is committed to being the most sustainable Games to date.  Their Food Vision reflects this policy in a number of ways, in particular around product sourcing standards and waste management procedures. All food sourced will be required to meet benchmark standards which include Red Tractor Assured, Lion Mark free range, RSPCA Freedom Food Certified, Fairtrade and British where applicable.  London 2012 has also set aspirational standards, such as LEAF Marque and Organic, which it hopes to achieve where these are available and affordable." 

Please let me know your thoughts whether you are a producer or a consumer of milk and milk-related products.