Dairy | Farmers defiant amid energy crisis

SPIRALLING energy costs are pushing Devon’s agricultural industry to its limit, leaving farmers struggling to maintain their farm’s profitability.

Dairy farmers are among the most affected by the rising energy costs, as milking parlours consume significant volumes of electricity.

After returning from New Zealand, Niall Tewson convinced his father to move away from lamb and beef and instead establish a dairy farm with a herd of Jersey cows. ‘Moving to dairy was the best thing I’ve ever done, in financial terms, lifestyle terms and for my own development.’

Although the farm has been prospering, rising energy prices have been eroding South Devon Dairy’s profit margins. ‘It’s affecting everyone, but it really is a major issue for us – the parlour uses a huge amount of energy run every day.

‘We’re on a contract at the minute but the energy company is currently trying to back out, so we’re looking to change suppliers if we can. However, we might stay with who we’ve got as every option is looking pretty dire.’

While South Devon Dairy is currently paying £0.22kWh, this is set to increase to £0.34kWh, while other quotes they have received have been as high as £0.97kWh. To save electricity, Niall has started milking some cows just once a day in to save electricity.

However, like most farmers, Niall isn’t one to take problems lying down and is currently looking at installing solar panels on his parlour and selling ice cream and milk directly from the farm.

Niall said: ‘You have to adapt and be eyes up, heads on, with a mindset that you’re going to make it work. But I do still think that it will still have a major impact on our farm though.’

Niall also sees the importance of showing people the process of producing our food: ‘A big threat at the minute to local farming is that people don’t realise the time, effort and money that goes into it. That’s why I push social media, as it makes visible the work and love that goes into food production and celebrates the importance of British farming.’

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Topics |
Dairy, Dairy Demand, Dairy Processors, energy, Farmers, industry, Milk, Prices, production

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