Wales losing one dairy farmer per week

Poor market conditions in Wales' milk industry have led to nearly one dairy farmer leaving the industry each week, according to a leading dairy producer.

The number of dairy producers in Wales had nearly halved within 10 years, from 4,270 in 1998 to 2,160 last summer, because of rising costs and low returns, said Mansel Raymond, chairman of NFU Cymru's Milk Board and a director of co-operative First Milk.

Wales has lost another 63 milk producers in a year, reducing the number to 2,097, he said. That is nearly one producer per week leaving the industry, and a drop of nearly three percent, Raymond said.

Furthermore, there are no replacements for retiring producers, unlike years ago, he said.

British milk yield had dropped sharply to 12.76 billion litres last year from a peak of 14 billion litres in 2002-03, leaving the UK only 60 percent self-sufficient in milk. The slump is continuing, with 33-million fewer litres produced between April and July this year compared with 2008, despite excellent weather conditions this spring.

Cow numbers have dropped 2.4 percent, and confidence may take three to four years to return, Raymond said.