Belthorn: Dairy farm says milk price increase is inevitable

Becki Fielding, worker and farmer’s wife at Pulford Farm Dairies near Belthorn, said the cost of production is too high to keep prices low.

At Pulford Farm Dairies, which supplies milk to people in Blackburn with Darwen with some milkmen covering Edgworth and Bolton, their milk prices will be increasing by 15 per cent in the next five months.

Becki Fielding, worker and farmer’s wife at Pulford Farm Dairies, near Belthorn

Becki said: “Milk price will definitely be increasing.

"It's inevitable because the cost of production is so high.

“The cost of fertiliser has trebled and the cost of fuel and cow food has also sky rocketed.”

Becki also points to the Ukraine/Russian conflict and says it has knock-on effects on Lancashire soil.

She said: “What's happening in Ukraine has pushed the price up of energy and it is also one of the biggest wheat producers.

"It’s had a knock-on effect with so many things, including the agriculture sector.”

Becki says we may need to re-evaluate the way we view milk and stop seeing it as a cheap product.

He said: “Milk has been very cheap for a long time but it’s just not sustainable to produce it at that price anymore.

“People don’t realise how cheap they have had it for such a long time and a lot of farmers are feeling the pressure at the moment.

“Milk has been used as a ‘loss leader’ for quite a while by supermarkets, meaning its 'low price' has been used to draw people into the shop.

"As a result, it has been devalued in people’s eyes."

Becki says she, and others at Pulford Farm, are being “cautious” but intend to “hold their nerve” in the coming months.

She said: “We are a very resilient business and fully intend to carry on.

“We don’t want to put our prices up too much as we sell milk directly to the consumer from our farms, not to supermarkets.”

However, she urged consumers not to worry or panic about the rising costs.

She said: “I don’t want people to panic too much. There is a lot of scaremongering at the moment – we will be holding our nerve and we recommend everyone else does the same.

“We’re not going to starve, we’re going to keep farming and producing food and other products – we will be all fine.”

Ash Amirahmadi, UK boss of diary giant, Arla, said they are “calling time on cheap milk”.

"Farmers have been facing squeezed milk prices for years," he said.

"In the last 10 years consumer prices have gone up 26 per cent as a whole, but the price of milk has dropped by seven per cent in the same period.

“This strategy is about improving the profitability of fresh milk.

“We saw the inflation on farms, on feed, fertiliser and fuel, starting around June or July last year.

“There were already some pressures building, but since the Ukraine crisis that’s just increased exponentially, particularly things like fertiliser.”

Dairy farmer adviser Kite Consulting, said four pints of milk could rise from £1.15 to between £1.60 and £1.70.