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Farming Today: Farming Today This Week

Farming Today This Week

30/07/2011

BBC Radio 4 - Farming Today, Farming Today This Week

Sarah Swadling looks at how dairy farmers are surviving a tough economic climate.

Last year 400 UK dairy farmers left the business. Sarah Swadling asks how the remaining farmers are coping in a tough economic climate.

Last year more than four hundred UK dairy farmers left the industry. The National Farmers' Union calculates the average milk price is three pence a litre below the cost of production. Sarah Swadling asks how the remaining farmers are coping in a tough economic climate.

UK farmers are calling for more transparency in contracts and how the price paid for milk by retailers and processors is set. Many say the price they're paid is still well below that of their European counterparts and the rise in prices of commodities like cheese, butter and milk powder should be better reflected in their profits.

Sarah hears what retailers, processors and the Government are doing to resolve the situation, and visits a farmer in Stafford who has invested half a million in a brand new farm. 

Presented by Sarah Swadling. Produced by Anne-Marie Bullock.

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