Protest over milk losses
Shropshire's beleaguered dairy farmers took to the streets of Birmingham today with a giant invoice for £31 million - the amount they lose each year by producing milk for the nation.
Producers from the county joined forces with farmers from across the West Midlands to remind Christmas shoppers in Britain's second city of the current crisis which is affecting the dairy industry.
Rock bottom prices paid to farmers for their milk, coupled with high production costs, means each farmer loses about 4p on every litre of milk they produce.
Experts at the NFU calculated that farmers in the West Midlands alone are out of pocket to the tune of £31,200,083. Nationally, that figures rises to a staggering £270 million.
The protest is part of the NFU's Dairy Invoicing Campaign, aimed at getting a better price for British dairy farmers.
Farmers have been encouraged to complete invoices, showing the gap between the price they receive for their milk and the production costs.
Alan Warrington, a dairy farmer from Eccleshall, said it was time consumers realised the financial pressures involved in producing a pint of milk.
He said: "This industry could be lost forever if farmers are not paid a fair price. Not only would this see an end to a long standing industry, milk would have to be sourced from outside the UK, increasing the number of food miles and making a greater impact on the environment."
The number of dairy farmers in the region has already declined by 47 per cent in the past 10 years and this decline looks set to continue over the next decade.
David Collier, regional director of NFU West Midlands, added: "The campaign has revealed what we have known all along - that milk producers are being short-changed to the tune of £270 million per year. This is the rising gap between what they are paid for their milk compared to how much it costs them to produce it.
The future of the milk industry is under serious threat until farmers are paid more for their milk."
By Farming Correspondent Nathan Rous
