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BIG MILK DILEMMA FOR DAIRY FARMERS

By Martin Neville - Friday, May 11, 2007
BIG MILK DILEMMA FOR DAIRY FARMERS
Susie Sheldon, of Kings Manor Farm, Freshwater, with her cows. Picture by Peter Boam.
A WEST Wight dairy farm is struggling to find a milk processor willing to cross The Solent to collect its organic milk.
Jamie and Susie Sheldon, of Harry Ferguson Farms, Kings Manor, milk 160 cows at their mixed dairy and arable farm at Freshwater.
They are converting to full organic status and will be producing around a million litres of organic milk every year.
But, they said, they are having trouble finding a milk processor prepared to travel to the Island to collect it.
“We don’t produce enough milk to fill a whole tanker and there is the additional transport costs,” said Mrs Sheldon.
“However, we have suggested they come over every other day and there is the possibility of a partnership arrangement with another dairy farmer so we can fill a tanker but they just say no.
“It means we will either have to process or transport the milk ourselves or stop producing milk altogether because it simply isn’t economical.”
The couple currently sell their milk at the rate of 16.1p per litre, less than the average.
The cost of production has risen in the past ten years and farmers are losing 4p or more on every litre of milk leaving the farm. However, there is a profit being made on every litre being sold in the supermarkets.
The low rate paid to farmers has been highlighted in the Great Milk Debate, a national campaign by the WI and National Farmers’ Union aimed to stimulate public interest and find a way out of the farmers’ dilemma.
Five dairy farmers spoke at the latest debate held at Kings Manor last Thursday and people were given a tour of the farm.
“The British dairy farming industry is in a desperate situation and this is particularly the case on the IW,” said Mrs Sheldon, a Yarmouth WI member.
“Unless we stop the decline, our communities and the environment will suffer enormously.”
The debate touched on the need to raise the profile of the availability of local milk, the additional problems faced by dairy farmers and also the need for an abattoir on the Island.