Longnor dairy farmer calls for help to face climate change

A dairy farmer from Shropshire has called for more support to help make his industry more resilient to climate change.

Tim Downes is the third generation on his farm in Longnor and said this summer's hot, dry weather meant dairy farmers had had to use lots of their winter feed.

The industry may have to put up the price of milk to help tackle the problem, he said.

The Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) said it understood the challenges farmers faced and had put in extra support. It added a "new £65m drought package includes an extra £50m for Sustainable Farming Incentive agreements for short and long-term resilience".

This summer, the UK farming industry has experienced significant impacts caused by consecutive heatwaves.

The Met Office said the summer is on course to be the UK's hottest on record. It was also the driest July in both England and Wales since records began in 1836.

Because of this, fields where dairy cows would usually graze have turned brown, meaning farmers such as Downes have had to resort to using feed.

"The forage stocks are just not there [on farms.] This year though, it is nationwide," he said.

"Last year, you could go across into west Wales and the fields would turn green. This year we're not seeing that. it's brown as far as you can travel.

"Maize crops that are stunted brown are being harvested now, which is three weeks earlier than normal and a lot lighter."

Because of the struggle, there have been calls for what farmers get paid for their milk to increase.

The Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board says farmers average between 34 and 38p per litre of their milk – the equivalent of about 20p in a pint.

In most major supermarkets, a pint of milk is sold for about 85p, which they get via contracts they have with farmers.

Downes said the costs and issues with the climate were causing "an alarming drop off" in the national milk supply.

He added rates to buy milk would need to go up by 7.5p per litre (4.26p per UK pint) to make a "meaningful difference."

"We are already seeing a drop year on year in milk production by about 7% and yet the demand for dairy is going up," he added.

"Organic dairy [demand] has also gone up. All of the dairy yogurts, cheeses and liquid milk by 10%, so at some point in time [providers] are going to be short of milk."

Earlier this month, Defra announced a package to help support farmers through extreme weather.

The department said it was "backing farmers with the largest nature-friendly budget in history" so it can "support farmers and land managers to help restore nature and boost farm productivity".

It added it hoped this would "protect food security and help businesses manage future risks".

Defra also said it had removed restrictions so farmers could cut and graze land in an Environmental Land Management agreement as part of "temporary drought derogation".

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