APPENDIX 22
Letter to James Gray MP from Mr David
Clark
I've been a dairy farmer for 37 years with a milking
herd of 75 cows and sell my milk to Milk Marque. I joined by parents
at the age of 15 when they were farming 50 acres and have since
increased this to 175 acres.
In all my working life I have never known such desperation
and uncertainty in my industry. Every avenue of my income has
been affected through no fault of my own, calf and cull cow prices
slashed and my milk price drastically cut while the price in the
supermarket remains the same. We've reached an impossible situation
where we can no longer service our ever-increasing fixed costs
and borrowings. As if this wasn't enough we are asked to increase
our standards and upgrade our milking facilities with no extra
money to cover the expense. Our milk is already the cleanest in
Europe.
We put large yellow eartags into small calf's ears
and ensure they are healthy enough to send for death as there
is no other market for them. BSE regulations bring many more forms
plus penalties if we make mistakes and the final insult as we
watch imports of food from the rest of Europe hit our market knowing
it has not been produced to the same high standards as our own,
funny how farm assurance suddenly goes out of the window if you
can get something cheap. How can we possibly compete in such a
ludicrous situation?
Why do the government seem to want to destroy smaller
family run farms? Animal welfare and traceability are now priorities
and we are the people most equipped to follow this through, we
know our herds individually. We manage the countryside and can
offer employment in rural communities if our returns are enough
to allow us to do so. British Dairy Farmers are an endangered
species. My elder son works outside of agriculture as I could
not afford to employ him. I hope my younger sons will have a choice.
I now work for the same prices I was receiving 20
years ago, probably below the minimum wage with my true hours
calculated. I produce one of the most complete nutritious foods
available and this month received 15p per litre (8.5p per pint),
considerably lower than 2 years ago. Compare this to any other
commodity you can buy, soft drinks, mineral water, etc. When explaining
my predicament most say they would be happy to pay a few pence
extra for their milk, but I expect the supermarkets and dairy
companies, who still make a profit, would syphon this off. As
for the strong pound I don't see any other industry receiving
the same wage they were in the '70s.
Today I farm with the largest overdraft I have ever
had. I am at the bottom of the heap with no one to pass my losses
onto and am being exploited.
10 June 1999
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