Dairy Industry

It is a privilege to serve under your chairmanship, Mr. Chope. The last time that I recall us having a full hour and a half debate on the state of the UK’s dairy industry was in November 2005, when such a debate was initiated by the hon. Member for Preseli Pembrokeshire (Mr. Crabb). Not many Members are here today; however, there is a similarity between the faces present today and those present then. I am sure that Members will agree that this debate is long overdue. Since November 2005, there have been many developments in the dairy sector and it would be churlish not to acknowledge that a lot have been positive. The ongoing Competition Commission inquiry gives us hope that some form of regulation will be introduced into the market and that that will help to provide dairy farmers with better farm-gate prices. Farmers’ unions, the women’s institute and other rural interest groups are succeeding in building a much higher profile for the plight of Britain’s dairy farmers, notably through the great milk debate that was launched in April; many Members will have had experience of that in their constituencies. We ignore the WI at our peril, particularly as others have been less responsive to its concerns. Supermarkets are starting to get to grips with their responsibility to ensure that farm-gate prices are set at a fair level. However, such progress cannot come a minute too soon for dairy farmers. Today, the average farm-gate price for a litre of milk is just under 18p, yet research by the National Farmers Union and the Royal Association of British Dairy Farmers estimates the price of production at 21.23p a litre. The situation is compounded by the escalating costs faced by our farming community. Figures provided by the National Farmers Union of Wales show that the cost of diesel has more than doubled and that the cost of nitrogenous fertilisers has risen by more than 50 per cent. in the past six years. During the past four years, the average price of electricity for small industries, including farms, has risen by some 90 per cent. In that context, farmers secured a price of 24.5p a litre 10 years ago, compared with 18p a litre today. I remind the Minister of the serious and worsening impact of tuberculosis on dairy farming. The Government’s perceived lack of action on bovine TB does little to support the industry. I know that the Minister takes a particular interest in this matter, and I urge him to implement a clear and universal strategy to deal with bovine TB at the first opportunity. Agricultural policy is a devolved matter, but there are cross-border issues. For example, English badgers are free to enter Wales, as Welsh ones are to enter England.