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Dairy farmer calls for help to face climate change

Charlie Stubbsin Longnor
News imageCharlie Stubbs / BBC There is a man in a dark blue polo shirt. On that shirt, it says 'organic' in pink letters and 'herd' in bigger white ones. Behind him is a sea of cows which are black, brown and white. There is also lots of tall green trees in the background.Charlie Stubbs / BBC
Tim Downes is an organic farmer with 300 cows

A dairy farmer from Shropshire has called on 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 has meant dairy farmers have 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 understands the challenges they face and have put in extra support for farmers. It added a "new £65 million drought package includes an extra £50 million 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 this summer is on course to be the UK's hottest on record. It has also been the driest July in both England and Wales since records began in 1836.

News imageCharlie Stubbs / BBC There is an empty shed. There is a grey roof with windows. There is also a grey wooden wall on one side and a black tarpaulin back wall. There is tires to the right. Charlie Stubbs / BBC
Downes has used lots of his winter feed as grass has not grown.

Because of this, fields where dairy cows would usually graze have turned brown, meaning farmers like 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 being harvested now which is three weeks earlier than normal and a lot lighter."

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

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

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

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

'Alarming drop off'

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

"We are already seeing a drop year on year in milk production by about seven percent 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 percent 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 they hope this would "protects food security and helps businesses manage future risks."

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

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