A recent survey from the National Farmers Union warns that the country’s dairy farmers are thinking seriously about their future due to a combination of factors including insufficient returns, volatile markets and the scale of on-farm investment.
The survey of almost 600 dairy farmers showed that 9% of producers believe they are likely to stop producing milk by 2025, up from 7% in 2022. Almost another quarter (23%) said they were “unsure” if their business would continue producing milk beyond 2025.
Over 85% of dairy farmers who responded said they are concerned about the impact of government regulation, with feed prices, energy prices, cash flow and profitability other key factors that would curtail milk supplies.
According to NFU dairy board chair Michael Oakes, “It’s clear that significant inflationary pressures combined with below cost of production prices are continuing to put the resilience of British dairy farming businesses under threat. We are now facing a crisis of confidence among Britain’s dairy farmers. With increasing global demand for British dairy, we know that the long-term future is bright for our sector. To ensure we maximise this potential, it’s imperative that government continues to work with us to ensure we have the right environmental, regulatory and trade framework in place to support the production of high quality, nutritious and sustainable food.”