Cost of living: Somerset dairy farmer on 'knife edge' as milk price drops

Tom Kimber from Wincanton has 200 cows

A dairy farmer says he is on a "knife edge" as the price of milk drops.

Tom Kimber, who has 200 dairy cows at Wincanton, Somerset, and supplies cheesemaker Barber's of Shepton Mallet, said he was losing £400 per day and was set to lose £160,000 this year.

The farmgate price of milk has been falling since February after reaching a record high in 2022.

"We have had a 20% cut in price over the last three months and we haven't hit the bottom yet," said Mr Kimber.

Planning for the future was a "nightmare", he said, with fluctuating milk prices leaving farmers "scratching their heads" on how to save money.

Mr Kimber's dairy cows produce milk for a nearby cheesemaker

"It's unsustainable at this price. You can't stay below your cost of production for too many months," he said.

Mr Kimber said the cost-of-living crisis meant people were buying supermarket own-brand cheese, affecting farmgate milk prices.

This week supermarkets Aldi, Lidl and Asda joined rivals Sainsbury's and Tesco in cutting the price of milk by at least 5p because the cost of buying milk in was dropping.

Alex Stevens, regional policy manager for the National Farmers' Union, said milk prices were dropping regardless of where farmers were supplying their milk.

He said the price per litre was hovering around 40p currently, having reached over 50p last year.

He added prices were dropping "very quickly" in part because milk supply increased in the summer months, and due to the cost-of-living crisis prompting a change in buying habits.

"We're seeing consumers buying slightly less of the really high-value products like cheeses or yoghurts which has an impact as well," he said.

"It's quite a quick drop and it's a big percentage change for farmers, and at the same time their cost of producing the milk is going up or staying the same," Mr Stevens said.

The NFU was expecting some farmers to leave the industry, he said.

The milk produced by the farm is used to produce West Country cheese

Mr Kimber added: "Once again we're on a knife-edge.

"It just takes your confidence away to invest; to push forward. We're coming under increasing pressure... money needs to be spent but you've got to have the confidence to go to the bank, borrow that money and know you'll be able to pay it back."

Mr Kimber said the increased price of labour was also squeezing farmers, with many considering reducing the size of their herds or number of labourers.