Britain’s dairy farmers are pouring milk away

Kelly Seaton’s dairy farm in Cheshire is leaking money. In February her revenue was £20,000 ($27,000) less than in September: she now gets less for a litre of milk than the cost of producing it. “You start to wonder if it’s worth the stress.” The problem, she explains, is that Britain is producing too much milk: some 13bn litres in the year to the end of March, 5% more than in 2024-25. This glut has led to average prices dropping by 17% since September.

Charles Goadby, a dairy farmer in Warwickshire, suggests farmers are partly to blame. Last summer prices were healthy. But when a drought forced farmers to replace grass with the nutrient-rich feed usually reserved for winter, these better-fed cows produced more milk. Changing human diets are also a factor. Dairy consumption is dipping, as more Britons choose plant-based alternatives. Sugary cereals, a vehicle for milk, have become less common too.

This copious milk comes from a herd that is smaller than it has been for decades. With the help of robotic milkers, advanced breeding and wearable tech and AI, a cow today produces twice as much milk as one from the 1970s. That puts Britain among the countries, like the Netherlands and New Zealand, with small herds and high output.

Whereas others can convert the excess into butter or cheese, Britain lacks the spare capacity to do so. An alternative is to turn raw milk into powder, but Britain has too few production facilities.

Some dairy farmers are responding by killing Daisy: beef prices are high and farmers need to make money. But fewer cows could, eventually, mean less milk. A smaller herd leaves a farm vulnerable. “If a few cows get foot-and-mouth disease, or bluetongue, you’re in trouble,” says Mrs Seaton.

The dairy market is volatile by nature. Surpluses abroad don’t help. Since the autumn milk prices have dropped by 17% in Europe and 14% in America. Brexit trade barriers also make it costlier and slower for Britain to ship its extra milk.

Lyndon Edwards, who farms in Gloucestershire, expects the milk price to fall further this spring. He understands why his job is unattractive to newcomers. Margins are thin. Supermarkets like to keep staples such as milk cheap. Competition squeezes profits. Since 2019 the number of British dairy farmers has fallen by 20% to about 7,000.

The good news for the industry is that British dairy has fans abroad. Last year, despite the Brexit barriers, it exported a record £2.2bn, mostly to Europe, 17% more than the year before. With more capacity to turn its milk into higher-value butter, cheese and yogurt, Britain could take even more to market. The world will pay for its supercows. ■