April 12, 2022

UK dairy farmers in West Midlands, England, troubled by rising costs of animal feed, fuel

Dairy farmers in the England's West Midlands, the United Kingdom, said rising costs over the past 12 months are making producing milk "pretty depressing".

The war in Ukraine combined with the post-COVID-19 economic recovery have pushed up prices of fuel, fertiliser and animal feed.

On Manor Farm near Nuneaton, Warwickshire, Charles Goadby said he is being forced to make cutbacks where he can to save money.

"That means just feeding the cows just fractionally less so they are still going to be healthy, they are still going to get everything they need but it is just going to cut that milk yield down a little bit more," he said.

The price of a four pint (2.2 litre) bottle of milk will go up in price in supermarkets soon by 50% to between £1.60-1.70 (US$2.08-2.22), dairy market expert Kite Consulting claimed.

The rise is contested by the British Retail Consortium which said supermarkets will instead be willing to take the hit to get customers through their doors.

However, for farmers, the war in Ukraine has added to cost rises which were already going up after the pandemic.

Animal feed has increased by 70% since 2020 and fertiliser from £250 (US$326) per tonne in 2021 to £1,000 (US$1,303) per tonne in 2022, according to the National Farmers' Union.

People should accept paying more for milk so farmers get a fair price, Goadby said.

- BBC