Wednesday 16 April 2008

FARMERS MILKED FOR ALL THEIR WORTH!


Supermarkets are pushing milk prices up but Stockport farmers will not reap the benefits.

Cost rises are not set to increase the demand for local milk rounds, as they are a result of dairy products being imported from China.

This is a further blow to farmers in the area who are struggling to keep profits up and must open their barn doors to the public in order to survive.

The outbreak of diseases such as Foot and Mouth and Mad Cow disease have had a serious effect on farms across the country and local farmers are feeling the strain.

Hyde Bank Farm in Romiley has recently opened a function room to go with its already popular tearoom. Owners, the Blackhurst family, have completely reshaped the farm to prevent economic ruin.

Like many dairy farms in the area, Hyde Bank once got its main income from a milk round, but due to the emergence of supermarkets there is now a lack of demand for locally produced milk.

The farm’s owner, 43-year-old Alan Blackhurst, lives with his wife, two sons and daughter at Hyde Bank. It is also home to his parents and his brother’s family.

Fifteen years ago the farm was making enough money to support all three families, but this is no longer the case. Alan blames the Government and supermarkets for the problems facing farms.

He said: “Supermarkets dictate prices, so if they are selling milk cheaply we have to follow suit and then it becomes uneconomical to produce it.”

“On top of this, the Government has been no help to farmers. Tony Blair just did not have a clue what to do when the diseases broke out and subsequently left things too late to allow us to recover.”

The tearoom is now very successful and the function room is set to follow in its footsteps, but although the changes have been positive in many ways, the family has had to sacrifice a lot.

Hyde Bank Farm has been in the family for generations and Alan has been a farmer for over 20 years. He said: “It has been a very stressful time and the hours are still very long. We probably have even less time to spend with the each other now than we did when it was a working farm.”

“I loved the farming and I do miss it, but needs must. It was quite a wrench getting rid of the cattle, but at least the changes have kept the family on the farm.”


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