Are some 'milking it'?
 

Farmers have staged untold protests in the past but they do get government top ups,so my question is this,are some farmers milking it?

Is 80p-£1.50 too cheap for 4pints of milk and would you be prepared to pay more?

Is it time farmers stopped thinking they're immune from market forces and its time they got a grip?

Farmers herd cows through aisles of Asda in protest at milk prices | UK news | The Guardian

Re: Are some 'milking it'?
 

Way i see it is when bottled water is dearer than milk,summats sadly wrong.

Re: Are some 'milking it'?
 

If they are able to organise themselves enough to put their animals through the stress of a supermarket visit, surely they can collectively impose a moratorium on the sale of milk to supermarkets?

The supermarket would either have to cave in, buy from an alternative farmer, or import. Only the middle option keeps milk cheap, and if the supermarket is able to find a supplier, it means that it must be possible for a supplier to profit from cheap milk.

I've worked in two industries where the customer was only willing to pay an amount lower than the break-even point. In both cases, the business shut down.

While the farmers have my sympathy, there are plenty of other people with the same problem so they shouldn't get any preferential treatment beyond the EU subsidies and tax-free fuel they already get.

Re: Are some 'milking it'?
 

From what I've seen farmers have much more disposable income than most other folk,they choose to go into dairy farming something only a bad business person would do without calculating the pro's and con's.

Re: Are some 'milking it'?
 

I wouldn't mind paying a bit more to put them back in profit, they work long hours, just getting rid of the cow poo is worth a few pence a pint!

However- the National Farmers' Unions own ex Chief Economist points out that the average dairy farmer gets £28,000 per year off the Government(sorry, Taxpayer). Even he seems to think they're being a bit 'unrealistic for them to believe they can be paid whatever price they think is needed'.

Re: Are some 'milking it'?
 

Some dairy farms are passed down the families and have been in the family for generations.
Farming is a seven day a week job....a job where you are never clocked off.
The costs include veterinary bills to ensure the animals are healthy.
Would you work seven days a week? Forego holidays? Make a loss because supermarkets refuse to pay a reasonable price for a staple product?
If we do not pay a reasonable amount for milk then our dairy farmers will go bust and we will be importing milk from the continent....probably at a higher cost.
You make a sweeping generalisation without any evidence for your comment.....apart from 'what you have seen'.
How many farmers balance sheets have you seen?

I do not use a lot of milk or dairy products, but I would definitely be willing to pay more.....but only if it was going into the pocket of the dairy farmer.

Re: Are some 'milking it'?
 

Just looked up Perrier water.
750 ml bottle- Asda £1 That's £2.66 for two litres!
Tesco/Waitrose £0.96, nearly as bad.

Are people mad? Do they actually pay that? It's just pumped out of the ground and bottled! It's not even sparkling until they put the CO2 back in.

Milk's a third of the price and is actually good for you, definitely too cheap.

Re: Are some 'milking it'?
 

I have never been a fan of farmers,but its utterly ridiculous to me, it costs me more for a small bottle of water than 4 pints of milk,i can certainly understand em bitching.

Re: Are some 'milking it'?
 

Some farmers may sell off their land to those energy companies to build wind turbines on.....that won't put milk on your cornflakes.
It is all very well to castigate the farmers, they are just trying to make a living.

Re: Are some 'milking it'?
 

I understand them whining,I'm not sure I agree with it though.
I'd also be prepared to pay a little more for my milk.
They could always do what the rest of us do when we hit hard times and downsize etc,I'm only going off what I've seen of farmers.....which is admittedly very little :p

Re: Are some 'milking it'?
 

Is that because most of them are Tories :D

Re: Are some 'milking it'?
 

Debatable :D

Re: Are some 'milking it'?
 

Really?
Can you quote your source?
Unless you're lactose intolerant or allergic to milk it's universally recognised as good for you. Try being short of calcium, it's not funny.

Re: Are some 'milking it'?
 

So you wouldn't whine or whinge if you were working all hours to look after your animals...And earn nothing because the supermarkets dictate the price they will pay.
You would downsize.....and how would that work then?
You sell the fields that your cattle need to graze on? You sell the animals so you have none to milk, but no income either.
As I said, you made a sweeping generalisation which had very little to substantiate it other than your own limited experience or what you might have read in the past.

Re: Are some 'milking it'?
 

Really? I thought it was common knowledge that milk is for calfs not really made for human consumption....my source is Beano or mind palace as I like to call it :D

Incase you want sources:-

http://www.notmilk.com

Re: Are some 'milking it'?
 

Unless you're a baby cows milk is good for you.

You're not a baby, are you? :rolleyes:
You don't have to answer that.

You're not linking to the Beano but you might as well be.

Re: Are some 'milking it'?
 

So humans should only consume milk produced by humans?
Yes there are theories that milk is not good for us, but humans have been drinking cows milk for centuries...and it was recommended to be given to school children for many years. To ensure they got a good source of protein and calcium.
This is another one of your diversionary tactics when a thread seems not to be getting the approval that you might have expected it to get....you throw some other aspect in to the mix.
Your initial question was 'are the farmers milking it?'........not, 'is milk detrimental to human health?'

I have very little dairy produce, but that is my personal choice, I think that if it were proven to have detrimental effects on everyone then it would probably not be sold.
Cows milk does not suit everyone, that is true, but many who do not tolerate cows milk will tolerate goats milk.
What about cheese and butter, and yoghurt?( horrible stuff)

Re: Are some 'milking it'?
 

:rolleyes:

Re: Are some 'milking it'?
 

That tactic doesn't work for me either Jason.

Re: Are some 'milking it'?
 

There are no "tactics" M,Believe what you will it makes no odds to me.
All I'm saying is,In my eyes some are milking it...even the Royals are helping milk is dry:-
EU farming subsidies for the Royals must stay secret | Daily Mail Online

They've been moaning for years,why aren't they skint an why do they still do it?
Answer: Pay yourself a cracking wage and put it through the books as a cost and the business can even run at a loss but you can afford a nice new Range Rover and quad.....admit it,you rarely see farmer Giles without a new tractor.

Re: Are some 'milking it'?
 

If that is truly what you see then so be it.
I know that it will make no never mind to you, but I know some farmers who cannot give up farming because they know nothing else. It is their life...it has been their life for generations.....they are not rich, they have no new tractor or Land Rover....but what they do have is debt.
If we treat those who provide a staple that is in most houses in the land so,poorly, then when they all see the light.....that there is more to life than working 24/7.....that tying their family into debt that can only be paid off if they sell off the land,property and beasts....leaving them with very little. When they do this there will be no home produced milk.....we will be left importing it and we most definitely will pay a higher price for it then.
I am asking you if that is what you would work your whole life for?
You believe all that stuff that
some of the media will tell you. Yes there are SOME farmers who are better off.....but to make such a sweeping generalisation is not just wrong. It is short sighted and foolish.
You start threads with contentious and misleading titles, throw some links from dubious sources into the mix and think that this is good for posting. You need to find a better balance for your threads.....and some of your posts too.
This will be my last post to this thread.

Re: Are some 'milking it'?
 

I don't like the way supermarkets think they can monopolise the market anymore than you M and I also perish the thought of importing all our milk from abroad.
Like I've said, I would be willing to pay a little extra if it helped keep our British farmers afloat (pun intended).
Fact is,SOME farmers want a free market to sell their goods on except when it's inconvenient....sorry,but to me,that's not how things work and you say these farmers can't give it up because they no nothing else?...Even a foolish school leaver can earn around £10 a hr stacking shelves at night in the local supermarket surely farmer Giles can stack shelves?.....I don't want to see their lush green fields turned to muck and full of wind turbines either so I guess it's catch 22.

Re: Are some 'milking it'?
 

If you don`t mind paying a little extra to help support the farmers -

Morrisons to create new milk brand to benefit farmers - BBC News

Re: Are some 'milking it'?
 

Sadly,our peg does the shopping and if there is milk at say 90p and milk at £1.20 side by side,like most,she'll be going for the cheaper option.
Perhaps,supermarkets could take it on the chin,rather than charging us, just pay the farmers out of their profits?

Re: Are some 'milking it'?
 

many moons ago when dairy farmers sold their souls to the supermarket chains they didnt think of all the milk delivery men they were putting out of business that the supermarkets severely undercut

boohoo to them i like my milk cold and i like it cheap and as long as it stays cheap i couldnt give a stuff about dairy farmers

our government pays some farmers NOT to work their land so if government wants to help dairy farmers take money from them slackers not more money from the public

ill do my bit and drink more milk and they can do their bit and pull them udders faster

Re: Are some 'milking it'?
 

Up to 5 years ago I lived in a rural community in France - my house was surrounded by fields of crops, corn, cabbage, cauliflower, apples, pears and various other things - told to help myself as they were paid not to harvest them, or pop along to the farm for free milk. Paid not to harvest them, or the milk, by the CAP. It was left to rot or went into the composter. They still had their protests - but of course they were French. CAP is just one of the corrupt products of the EU and all farmers benefit from it.

Re: Are some 'milking it'?
 

Which is all the more reason we should get outa the damn E.U.

Re: Are some 'milking it'?
 

I feel the need to say something in the defence of farmers. Living in the sticks I am surrounded by them and round here they do not have shiny new tractors. I was out and about yesterday, on my trip I saw 5 tractors, one was bright shiny and new but was owned by a contractor not a farmer. Of the other four, three had all been 'tound the clock' more than once and had registration plates of the form 3 letters + 3 numbers which gives some indication of their age. The final one was about 10 years old.

Re: Are some 'milking it'?
 

there are some tight fisted farmers as well


scruffy , tatty and thrifty dosnt always mean poor :)

im sure some farmers do struggle but when it comes to dairy farmers i have no sympathy because they led themselves to this situation through bad contract negotiating and self destructing their own customer base by doing exclusive deals with supermarkets

Wasnt any tears when supermarkets were giving them decent money but once supermarkets knew no one else was left to buy their milk the supermarkets played hardball and that is good business sense on the supermarkets side and for us the customer

if they are really that unhappy instead of filling a few trollys with milk and abandoning them at teh checkouts why dont they learn a few tricks from the french because french farmers get things done when they get upset and it dosnt take much to upset a french farmer

Re: Are some 'milking it'?
 

Five or six years ago the French farmers got annoyed at the supermarkets over the price of milk - Sunday morning (when the supermarkets were still closed), they took their tractors into the car parks and flattened every trolley park with the trolleys still inside them. Didn't change the price of milk though.

Re: Are some 'milking it'?
 

Not that I'm qualified to comment on economic matters but,isn't the problem oversupply of milk? If it is, some of these 'poor farmers' need to go out of business in order for the rest to make a half decent living.
I didn't hear of these 'poor farmers' protesting when the price of feed was rock bottom,now the price has rising their taking daisy the cow down to Asda :rolleyes:

Re: Are some 'milking it'?
 

Farmers cannot just stop selling to supermarkets, if they did the farmer would be without a customer and the supermarket would buy elsewhere.

If (an "if") they are not paid enough to cover their costs and make a profit then IMO they should be paid more and I would.

Re: Are some 'milking it'?
 

Actually they could refuse to supply the Supermarket chains, in which case there would be no British milk at the supermarket. Sadly the British consumer has decided he/she does not care where milk comes from as long as its cheap.
We are lucky enough to have milkman who delivers local milk on our doorstep, but our neighbours........
We are all to blame for this, it did not happen overnight.

Re: Are some 'milking it'?
 

And the milk used to have a layer of cream on top - mad scramble in the mornings as my lads all wanted to be first to put milk on their cereals.