A ‘VITAL’ financial support package for dairy farmers to help them overcome the ‘perfect storm’ of the coronavirus outbreak has been announced, although there have been calls for further support.
A spokesman for the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (Defra) said up to £10,000 would be available to ‘eligible’ dairy farmers to cover 70 per cent of lost income during April and May, with more information becoming available ‘in due course’.
The measures follow reports of farmers being forced to pour milk away amid supply chain disruption caused by the coronavirus crisis.
Westmorland and Lonsdale MP Tim Farron, the Liberal Democrats’ farming spokesman, described the situation as a ‘perfect storm’ with ‘demand for milk plummeting and the price paid by dairy producers crashing’. He said the newly-announced funding was ‘vital’.
“I will be speaking with the National Farmers’ Union over the coming days to examine the details and establish whether these new measures go far enough in catching all our dairy farmers who are in serious financial hardship at the moment,” he said.
The announcement of the financial package coincided with the launch of a £1 million marketing campaign, part-funded by Defra, by the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board, with the aim of increasing milk consumption in UK households.
Cllr James Airey, an Urswick farmer and Conservative candidate for Westmorland and Lonsdale, said the funding for dairy farmers was ‘welcome news’ but cautioned that ‘ongoing support’ was needed.
“Certainly, speaking to dairy farmers and family members that are in dairy farming, the last couple of months have been particularly difficult,” he said.
“I’m glad that the Government are looking to support dairy farming but this is really only a drop in the ocean. Some producers have had to drop milk down the drain and some dairy farmers are running at a huge loss.”
Cllr Airey said better regulation of supermarkets was needed to ensure a ‘fair playing field’ and to provide farmers with ‘some surety going forward’.
Source: thewestmorlandgazette.co.uk
