We are third-generation dairy farmers from Lincolnshire running an average-sized dairy farm of 160 cows and producing 1.2m litres per year. We like to think of ourselves as hardworking, diligent and caring. Over the years we have invested heavily in our farm and our cows; we have jumped through all of the hoops asked of us by our milk buyer and the supermarkets they supply. A lifetime has been invested in breeding the right animals and it will take at least two years before we will see a return from the female calf that was born last night.
As dairy farmers we fully support the protests that have seen farmers blockade milk processing plants around England. But living on the east coast of Lincolnshire, it is very difficult for us to leave the farm and our ladies to join fellow farmers, when most of the action is three hours-plus away. We find this very frustrating.
The typical day for us starts at 5am and finishes at any time after 7pm, seven days a week, 52 weeks a year, Christmas Day, New Year's Day; days when you don't feel like getting out of bed and wished you could have a day off sick; irrespective of the weather, from -15C to 30C, rain, snow or sun. The cows are milked twice a day and everything we do is for them. They are our employees and life revolves around these ladies.
Today we receive less for our milk than we did 17 years ago and in August we will have another price cut of 1.65p per litre (ppl) which will make an enormous hole in our farm finances. The milk sold from our farm is 8ppl below the cost of production and even if we could achieve that price, then there would still be no money to invest back into the infrastructure of the farm. There is no negotiation on the price we receive and it can be dropped at a moment's notice. We are locked into a contract and have to give a year's notice if we want to change processors, but there would be little point in that because they all drop their price at the same time.
Over the last couple of years the costs of production has increased and we are all paying more for fuel and electricity. And don't forget water, which we cannot do without on our farm: our water is on a meter and the average cow in full lactation is thirsty, which means a hefty bill each year. Animal feed costs have increased on the back of high grain prices due to the American drought. The wet summer here has meant that the ladies have to be housed more, so increases in labour costs are incurred. With the increase in straw-powered power stations and increases in fertiliser prices the demand for straw is greater and it is no longer a waste commodity but has a very real value and sometimes a very high one.
Unlike some of our fellow farmers in the south-west who also have the extra burden of movement restrictions and have lost good animals to bovine tuberculosis, our cattle are only tested every four years so we don't have that threat hanging over us.
The British dairy farmer is one of the most efficient in the world and produces a high quality, much sought-after product used by almost every consumer in the country, yet the product that we produce has been devalued so much that it is cheaper than bottled water.
We realise there is nothing special about our story; we are just typical dairy farmers. We don't want to be millionaires but just want a fair day's pay for a long hard day's work.
