farmers need a fair milk price

[cazboldy]

www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/cuts-in-milk-prices-will-cause-rise-to-consumers-say-farming-leaders-7935411.htm

something really needs to be done about this - the government need to step in and sort out these supermarkets - not just for milk, but to ensure ALL producers get a fair price for the goods they produce!

ivykaty - what chemicals are you talking about?....... organic milk is from cows that eat organic food..... and they are even allowed antibiotics when poorly - just like regular non - organic ones..... not sure what chemicals you mean

MoreBeta - exactly! I completely agree with you!

We do all need to remember that many of us buy our milk from supermarkets and that there is no economic law that means no one can be paid less than what it costs to make something.

The dairy farmers can stop producing milk and do something else. They can sell their farms to investors or other farmers like my Dad did. Land prices have risen a lot in recent years.

Do British farmers have co-ops at all as in Ireland -- thinking of Glanbia (Avonmore), etc., which are enormous agribusinesses, even on a smaller scale?

aren't cows given injections which effect the hormones? Isn't that why they think more boys are getting man boobs?

rBST Hormone

I think the idea of collective farms is a good one, and might give the farmers more protection and more clout. But they would never be powerful enough to stand up to the supermarkets.

And just because there is no law to stop something unfair from happening doesn't mean there couldn't or shoudln't be one.

The answer is not for farmers to sell to investors. That way we'd get theme parks, housing developments and caravan parks all over the countryside, wouldn't we?

Btw, shame on you, Co-op! That's really disappointing. I really expected more of them.

ivykaty - no! not at all!

though I think this has happened in the US - not sure if it still does.....

some farmers round here did a few years ago - about 6 of them.... put up their own money etc, processed their own milk and sold it locally, and it worked well in the short term..... then Dairy Crest bought the processing plant out from underneath them......

The trouble is that these companies, and the supermarkets just have so much power, and enough money to do whatever they like

Hi there is an e-petition running at the moment to try and force the gov to at least discuss the problem.

As a dairy farmer I'm gutted that the price we are being paid is being cut again. We are a small dairy unit which because we are not producing millions of litres of milk a year can't negotiate contracts as we aren't producing a large enough volume of milk. Processors prefer to get all their milk in one place (from a large intensive farm) rather than have a tanker drive to serveral farms for the same amount. As a result we are told what we will get paid and its a case of like it or lump it.

Farming is about the only industry where we are not allowed to charge a fair price for what we produce eg you would not be able to walk into a car dealer and tell them "yes that car cost £25,000 to produce but sorry I'm only going to pay you £18,000 and if you want to get rid of it you will have to accept it"

The big problem we have is that milk is perishable so it needs to be moved off farm for what we can get for it - the only alternative is to pour it down the drain and there is no point in doing that. They have us over a barrel.

"The dairy farmers can stop producing milk and do something else. They can sell their farms to investors or other farmers like my Dad did. Land prices have risen a lot in recent years."

But I don't want to buy milk from outside the UK. I want to buy British milk, and preferably local milk like I do now. I think it is very shortsighted to import all of our milk and other foodstuffs.

ivykaty that is just not true. There is a coopertive here, that supplies between 40 and 50% of M&S's milk.

There are Plenty of farming cooperatives.

There should be more.

A free market would totally work - and farmers would love it IF we can raise our livestock to the same welfare standards as
Europe let alone the far east. That means pigs tethered in stalls and caved hens for example.

Whilst consumers and government (quite rightly so) require such high and expensive welfare standards they need to pay for it. Without fair prices and subsidies those standards are not sustainable.

I disagree with you freerangelady in your statement that ''farmers would love it IF we can raise our livestock to the same welfare standards as Europe let alone the far east''

All the farmers I know take great pride in the welfare of their animals and would much prefer a fair price rather than a drop in standards

True Gatorade, that read wrong. When we got out of the pig industry in the uk we looked at relocating to Romania or hungary to restart our herd but as a family we just couldn't stomach it.

I meant more we'd like a level playing field because at the moment it's definitely not.

Without a full OFT or Competition Commission inquiry there is no basis at all for saying whether supermerkets or the big milk processors are excercising undue market power in the way they buy food from farmers. All businesses have a right to buy their inputs at lowest cost.

It may just be that some marginal inefficient dairy farmers need to exit the dairy industry and once that has happened milk prices will rise to a more sutainable level. This is the natural cycle in all commodity producing industries.

'The big problem we have is that milk is perishable so it needs to be moved off farm for what we can get for it - the only alternative is to pour it down the drain and there is no point in doing that. They have us over a barrel'

Have you never heard of cheese?
How about whey powder and the multimillion dollar nutritional supplement industry that Glanbia is making inroads into in the US?

(And yes, last year's model of car can often have a negotiated price that is less than the sticker price. Dealers have a lot of leeway in setting car prices. As a consumer, if you can find out how much the dealer paid for it, you can sometimes do very well.)

When a supearkwt turns found and says to you "we are dropping your price by 4p next week" there is literally nothing you can do about it. Apart from throw it down the drain. You often have to sign lengthy contracts with them and they reserve the right to change at any time. I have been subject to nasty practices by supermarket buyers that totally exploit their monopoly and can assure you it does happen.

As to the inputs - there is also a massive monopoly on agricultural inputs. There are 3 companies to buy your fuel from. How is that competitive? I can't answer for the dairy farmers but for arable there are very few input supPliers. They are also notorious for putting prices up in line with market prices but never dropping them when the

mathanxiety - but we can't all just become cheese producers overnight

No, it takes planning, but how long have you been at the mercy of the supermarkets?

There is a market for artisan cheese.

The market for artisan cheese is tiny. Lots of dairy farmers don't have the investment required or a practical location.

Yes it's an option and farmers do have to help themselves but, it canno be done by everyone. We grow wheat and I've looked into making speciality flours. Too much investment which we do not have the cash for.

Have you never heard of cheese

The ironic thing is that all our milk goes for cheese production and they are still cutting what we get paid

Agree with pp that its fine diversifying into artisan products but the investment in plant and machinery to comply with legislation and food regulations is something that most farmers just do not have. We have looked into producing butter but it would take in the region of £150,000 for that to happen - we could raise that amount but there is no way we would be able to service the loan . There is also very little in the way of grants available.

So are you telling me that they don't give cows this hormone in europe? Or that this hormone doesn't give boys man boobs?

The beauty of Irish co-ops is that they allowed farmers to band together and negotiate as a group with supermarkets and suppliers.

IvyKaty -- rBST was banned in all EU countries and in Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Israel and Japan, on or before 2000.

It is still in use in the US, Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Egypt, Guatemala, Honduras, Jamaica, Lebanon, Mexico, Panama, Pakistan, Paraguay, Peru, Salvador, South Africa, South Korea, Uruguay and Venezuela.

AFAIK, milk and milk products from those countries are banned in the EU.

Thanks for that math, I shall continue to get milk from my milk man - as I fnd it is fresher btu will not worry about getting the idd carton of milk to top up and it not being organic. Though my dd's prefer the taste of organic, so would complain. I don't drink milk so wouldn't know whether organic taste better or not

I also like having milk in glass that is reusable - it lessens the amount of stuff in the recycling boxes