First Snows, The Price of Milk

We're half way through January and we've had the first snowfall. Not a great deal but enough to transform the landscape into something magical. Whether there will be any more we'll have to wait and see. I do rather hope there will be...I know it makes a lot of work for us all but it is such fun.

As some of you may be aware there has been much coverage in the media about the price of milk; that it is cheaper than bottled water, that many farmers are being paid less than the cost of production. The company that has been in the firing line this week is First Milk, the company that we have a contract with. They have made the decision to defer payments to we producers until the end of the month instead of paying us in the middle of the month, and have dropped the price by 2 pence per litre. This has been done to improve their cash flow problems.
The big question for us is will the electricity company, the phone company, the local petrol station be willing to accept deferred payment from us as a result? Somehow I think not.
Also, is the chairman of First Milk having his huge salary deferred? Again, I think not!
Anway, we have been summoned to a meeting tomorrow with the chairman to 'discuss the full details of last week's announcement'. I guess it may be a rather tense gathering.
Milk industry politics have been volatile for long time and it seems that they are continueing to be so. It is to be hoped that some significant changes can come about with regard to the price paid to the farmers and the price of milk for the consumer. With fewer than 10,000 dairy farms in the UK and more leaving the industry something has to be done.