Cheshire Farmers face New Challenges

Cheshire is recognised as a County where dairy farming predominates. That remains the case to this day despite the ravages of BSE, foot and mouth disease and now , a more insidious 'disease' which is economically driven. The latter has been with us for some time and it shows itself in the form of farmgate prices which are below the cost of production. With a farmgate price of just 10p per pint and an average retail price of 34p it is proving a remarkably difficult task to draw down to the farm level a fairer share of the end price.

With this background it is not surprising that many dairy farmers are hanging up their boots and calling it a day. At the other end of the spectrum are those who believe that they can survive by becoming yet larger businesses and latest bank borrowing figures indicate that much of the additional lending is heading in the dairy sector's direction. To some this may seem a contradiction but any farmer will tell you that 'standing still' is rarely an option,least of all in 2003. Not only are they contending with low prices but they are also having to plan ahead for the significant changes which the June 2003 CAP reform settlement will start to introduce in 2005 - and this applies across the board to all farmers and growers.

That CAP reform should introduce a good deal more freedom into the process by which farmers determine the future use of their land. At the same time we expect to be seeing the introduction, on national basis, of the new Entry Level Agri-Environment Scheme. Until recently Cheshire has generally missed out on European structural funding that has been available elsewhere and the County's farmers have not developed a culture of seeking support in the same way as has been witnessed in other parts of the country. That has probably had some spin-off into the environmental schemes available to date but hopefully that will all change as famers recognise that opportunities
are now available to them from a variety of sources. NFU believes that the Entry-Level scheme, coupled with a revamped Coutryside Stewardship Scheme should offer great scope to Cheshire farmers and especially to those who have traditionally managed their farms in an environmentally-friendly manner, perhaps by retaining a variety of features and habitats.

Life on the farm is rarely peaceful, but it is most definitely challenging!'