The crisis in dairy farming

The supermarkets were yesterday accused by the National Farmers' Union president, Peter Kendall, of forcing farmers out of business and that the low prices paid spelt doom for traditional dairy and other farms. Farmers supplying the supermarkets receive around 18p a litre for milk, yet it's sold for 49p, making it cheaper than many bottles of mineral water.

Sainsbury's chief executive responded by saying that they would not buy British produce "at any cost", stating: "We cannot and will not prop up inefficient businesses."

Today's Independent newspaper takes up the case. It says that only 10 days ago, the House of Commons All-Party Group on Dairy Farming found that while the retail price of milk has risen by 11% in the past 15 years, the price paid to farmers had fallen by 10%. The dairy industry was being "ripped off" by the supermarkets, the MPs concluded.

The newspaper argues that driving small dairy farmers to the wall for the sake of a few pence off the cost of a pint, cannot represent a healthy way forward for a patchwork, intimate countryside – just the sort of environment we have in the Audlem area.

There are other impacts too, with dairy products shipped in from afar. Audlem Online has heard from a number of sources that many of the giant trucks passing through Audlem are carrying dairy products, primarily yoghurt, from Romania, Bulgaria and Hungary. If anyone has more information on this, do not hesitate to let us know. We think we know precisely where those products are going, but would like firmer evidence.

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