[caption id="attachment_5917" align="aligncenter" width="300"]
(l-r) FUW president Glyn Roberts, FUW Montgomeryshire county chairman Mark Williams, FUW deputy county chairman Alwyn Vaughan, Brian Jones, FUW member Rob Corfield, Kay Swinburne MEP, FUW vice president Eifion Huws, FUW milk and dairy produce committee chairman Rhydian Owen and FUW senior policy officer Dr Hazel Wright.[/caption]
The Farmers’ Union of Wales has met with Conservative MEP Kay Swinburne to discuss the problems currently faced by Welsh dairy producers in a bid to send a strong message straight to Brussels.
The meeting was held at FUW member Brian K Jones’s farm at Cefncoed Farms, Coed y Parc, Caersws, Newtown, who runs a 210 acre dairy farm with his wife Susan and son Andrew.
The couple have recently had their milk supply contract cancelled and were keen to drive a strong message straight to Brussels about the dire situation many Welsh family run dairy farmers find themselves in.
Brian, who sits on the FUW milk and dairy produce committee as the Montgomeryshire delegate, said: “The current situation faced by many Welsh dairy farmers is unacceptable and further action needs to be taken to address the problems facing family farms which are under real threat.”
He also took the opportunity to highlight the difficulties facing farmers such as himself whose contracts had been cancelled by Meadow Foods.
“Meadow Foods told the Farmers Weekly last week (November 20) that the company has ‘no plans to tear up contracts’, but that’s exactly what they have done to a number of us in this area.”
Brian said he and others in the area were written to in June. The letter stated.
“…Meadow Foods has been reviewing all areas of our operation to identify where costs can be reduced and milk price improved. A key area of this review has been milk transport costs. We have identified a small number of producers who are located in outlying areas and therefore have a significant increased cost to collect; unfortunately your farm sits within this group. We have looked at various ways of reducing these costs to no success. Therefore, with regret, we have taken the decision to hereby serve you notice on your milk supply contract with Meadow Foods...”
“Because I am a tenant farmer, losing this contract at a time when nobody is taking on new producers means that we are now looking at losing the roof over our heads.
“It also means that my son, who works on the farm, will lose his job and his livelihood. If this continues there will be real problems for the industry.”
FUW vice president Eifion Huws, said: “These are very uncertain times for the dairy industry and this year we have experienced market volatility like we haven’t seen in a long time.
“Not only are our farmers struggling with low milk prices, which are notably below the cost of production, they are now also being forced out of the industry because companies like Meadow Foods can’t find a way of collecting milk.”
FUW milk and dairy produce committee chairman Rhydian Owen said: “We are thankful to Kay Swinburne for taking the time to hear the FUW’s concerns and the particular issues affecting tenanted family farms such as Coed y Parc.”