Farmers in region sell up
Britain's dairy farming industry is in freefall with 2,000 farmers selling up in the Midlands alone in the last 10 years, the Shropshire Star reveals today. Plummeting milk prices caused by a supermarket stranglehold means dairy farmers are now getting as little as 16p a litre - down by 40 per cent since 1995.
In Shropshire, the problems were highlighted by yesterday's auction in Newport where farmer George Shufflebotham called time on his milking career.
The 60-year-old saw his 75-strong herd go under the hammer, along with milking equipment, trailers and farm machinery.
"There's no way I can pass this on to my sons because it can't give them a decent living," Mr Shufflebotham said dejectedly.
"There used to be a profit in dairy farming but not any more."
David Giles, director of Halls auctioneers in Shrewsbury which organised yesterday's sale, said the dairy industry was in a terrible state.
"This is by no means the first dairy farm to go to the wall, and judging by the way the industry is going it will not be the last," he said.
"Unfortunately it is impossible for dairy farmers to stand up to the price demands of the supermarkets because they have a perishable product which cannot stay in the tanker while they try and negotiate more money."
Everyone is taking up the fight, including Shropshire's Euro MP Liz Lynne.
She said: "We are desperately in need of a long term solution to establishing a sustainable farmgate price for milk. The question now is not whether to intervene but by how much."
