Milk industry ‘facing crisis’ over pricing
UK - Milk produced in the UK could become a thing of the past if a crisis in the dairy industry is not dealt with, a north Dorset organisation has warned.
8 December 2006
1 minute read
Thousands of farmers have already abandoned the milk industry and there are fears another third could leave dairy farming by the end of 2007 if they continue to be paid an "unfair" price for milk.
Ernie Amey, the honorary secretary of the Blandford and District Trades Council, said: "It's a scandal that dairy farmers are being paid less than the cost of production and less than they were paid a decade ago while the price of milk in the shops remains unchanged.
"If dairy farmers continue to be paid an unfair price for their milk, then dairy farmers and British milk will be a thing of the past."
In 1995 there were more than 28,000 dairy farmers in England and Wales but by 2005 there were fewer than 15,000.
North Dorset farmer Owen Yeatman, who has a 420 dairy herd at Okeford Fitzpaine, said the big four supermarkets dealt with 80 per cent of the milk.
Source: Daily Echo
