APPENDIX 5
Memorandum submitted by Mr Robert Craig
(Q7)
I am writing to you to express my views, facts and
opinions as a 38-year-old dairy farmer attempting to survive with
an ever declining milk price.
Facts:6 pence per litre drop in final milk price
on 600,000 litres of quota (1/3 leased)
= a £36,000 drop in income per year.
Reduced cull cow prices, reduced by 50 per cent.
25 per cent drop in calf prices.
Together these lead to a situation where after working
regular 12 to 14 hour days still no profit can be made. This in
addition to the investment of large sums of money over the last
few years to comply with environmental, health and safety, hygiene
and farm assurance standards, all placed upon us by the Government
legislation and milk buyers.
As the situation gets increasingly worse the prospects
of me being able to survive in this industry become more and more
unlikely.
I am a supplier of Milk Marque and have supported
it from the onset. I believe it should be allowed to continue
otherwise our position can only get worse. Milk Marque should
be allowed to process as much milk as is needed to clear the market
of liquid milk, thus giving other milk buyers competition, something
there appears to be little of at present. A milk selling system
should be devised so large buyers cannot manipulate and dictate,
which they do so easily at the moment.
The Milk Development council uses the money collected
from us, by way of a levy, for research and development. A great
deal of this money seems completely wasted. At least three-quarters
of this money should go towards the advertisement of milk, as
long as the Dairy Trade Federation members equal this amount.
Every reward from this advertising must be seen to
be coming back to the people who are initially putting the money
in, ie the farmers.
I hope this committee does not waste this opportunity
to review the whole selling system for milk in this country, and
hope, for the sake of the dairy farmer, commonsense prevails.
9 June 1999
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