NFU Council: Dairy update
Ian Harvey
NFU national Dairy Board Chair
NFU Dairy Board Chair Ian Harvey shares his update for Council members following the latest meeting.
The NFU Dairy Board represents members’ interests on the key issues facing the dairy sector.
We speak up for and provide support to our members on subjects ranging from the rise of animal activist attacks and media reports of ‘mega dairies’ to milk prices and reducing audit burden in farm assurance.
Milk prices vary widely
Dairy markets continue to be a tale of the haves and the have nots.
GB milk supplies continued to contract over the summer, even as the heat pressures eased – in equal parts due to rising costs, below COP (cost of production) prices, and disease in parts of the country.
Global supplies have kept price rises limited, although we have seen some price recovery in certain milk pools with average milk prices now nearing or exceeding 40ppl (pence per litre).
At the same time, others are still barely seeing 30ppl, almost 10ppl below estimated average cost of production.
What we haven’t seen is the sudden and substantial price changes the sector witnessed last winter when prices dropped for some by 6-8ppl in one go and many saw 15ppl wiped off their milk cheques in a matter of months. That seems to only happen on the way down.
I was hugely disappointed to hear last week that some dairy farmers were notified that they should expect a significant milk price cut later this year.
This comes at a time when confidence in the sector is already at rock bottom, with drought, bluetongue, uncertainty over environmental schemes and a Budget which has delivered nothing for the sector.
It is vital farmers have the confidence to plan, invest and grow their businesses; milk prices are transparent and market linked; and everyone in the supply chain has the responsibility to support resilient farm businesses.
Farmers impacted by such changes are legally allowed to request, under the new fair dealing laws, for clarity over how the price was reached and how it relates to the contract terms they signed up to.
“It is absolutely unacceptable that those who are working hard to produce British food are faced with the reality of repeated incursions, drones flying overhead and having to lock their doors and shut curtains to prevent themselves, their children and elderly relatives from being filmed.”
NFU Dairy Board Chair Ian Harvey on animal activists
Animal activism on the rise
Whilst I like to put a positive spin on things in my updates, the rising number of animal activist attacks and incursions on dairy farms of late makes this hard to do.
At the heart of these attacks are farming families, often multi generational, facing the unacceptable reality of seeing their homes and businesses targeted by threatening and aggressive individuals who are able to gain access to farms, set up covert filming and audio equipment, and interrupt everyday activities, seemingly with no legal repercussion or concern for biosecurity.
It is absolutely unacceptable that those who are working hard to produce British food are faced with the reality of repeated incursions, drones flying overhead and having to lock their doors and shut curtains to prevent themselves, their children and elderly relatives from being filmed.
Yet this continues to be treated as a civil and not a criminal issue by the law.
We cannot and do not defend bad practice when it is found, and incidents of bad behaviour should be reported immediately, thoroughly and fairly investigated and dealt with robustly.
Protocols for investigating must be clear and every incident dealt with uniformly.
The NFU continues to share best practice when it comes to preventing and dealing with activist incursions, supporting members who are being targeted and trying to coordinate industry reaction.
You can find out more on our activism landing page, through you local dairy representatives or by calling NFU CallFirst on 0370 845 8458. Please, don’t go through this alone.
Farm assurance
I wanted to highlight the work the Board have undertaken when it comes to reviewing Red Tractor standards for dairy and responding to the latest consultation – ever important given my last subject of tackling and subverting activist activity.
Work is still ongoing into looking at how we can reduce audit burden on farms, ensuring they require less paperwork and that there is earned recognition.
I will hopefully be able to share more about this at a later date.
Read: Red Tractor livestock and dairy consultation
‘Mega dairies’
Finally, many of you will have seen reports in the press recently linking so called ‘mega dairies’ with pollution incidents.
Without denying that the sector is clearly an essential partner in delivering environmental progress, we have challenged the statistics linking herd size alone with environmental performance and citing the need to judge farms based on outcomes rather than systems or scale.
That said, there are a number of areas where we agree with some of the NGOs (non-governmental organisation) – for instance, on the need to support farmers to invest in better infrastructure, expand farm advice services and reward businesses for actions taken.
We will be exploring how we can use this common ground to continue to advocate for member needs.
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