Dairy Farm Employment In Decline

Devon has lost more than 500 people employed on dairy farms in less than a decade, figures released by the Government have revealed. The statistics published by junior agriculture minister and Exeter MP Ben Bradshaw in response to a question from St Ives MP Andrew George reveal there were 4,188 people working in the dairy industry in Devon in 1993 compared with 3,633 in 2002. Although the number of employees increased by 200 on 2001, it was about 200 down on 2000 when it stood at 3,813. From 1993 to 2002 the number of employees in the dairy trade in Cornwall fell from 2,469 to 2,007 while the numbers in the Plymouth and Torbay areas are so low that they have fallen to single figures and are not revealed in the table because employees will be identifiable. The current crisis in the dairy industry is be linked to the low `farmgate' price that farmers have been getting for their milk in recent years. Farmers who remain in an increasingly desperate business say they are earning less than at any time since the Milk Marketing Board was disbanded more than a decade ago. In November friends and families of dairy farmers gathered outside the Unigate depot in Totnes to demonstrate against the low prices they were getting for milk. The demonstration came as farmers across the South West mobilised to join a new series of direct action protests which could disrupt the supply of milk to supermarkets. The Farmers for Action campaign recently secured a 2p-a-litre rise with big retailers - but they say middlemen such as Dairy Crest must pass it on to consumers. Anthony Steen, the Tory MP for Totnes, asked Environment Secretary Margaret Beckett when she last met representatives of the National Farmers Union to discuss farmgate milk prices and "what steps she is taking to safeguard the future of the British dairy farming industry". Mr Bradshaw replied: "The Secretary of State has had no formal meetings with the National Farmers Union to discuss farmgate milk prices. However, ministers frequently meet with representatives from all parts of the dairy supply chain, including the NFU, and are therefore aware of the issues. "Matters affecting the whole dairy sector are regularly discussed at the Dairy Supply Chain Forum chaired by my noble friend Lord Whitty on which the NFU is represented. "The reasons for low farmgate price over the last few years are complex and cannot be reduced to a single factor."