Eighty-six dairy farms have closed in three years – at a staggering cost of £80 million to Cumbria’s economy.

However, industry experts fear the true impact on the county’s financial purse could be closer to £100m.

And, with no end to the current crippling dairy crisis in sight, industry chiefs fear many more farms will be forced to close this year.

The shocking figures are exposed in a letter to Environment Minister and Cumbrian MP Rory Stewart, written by the National Farmers Union’s (NFU) Cumbria county chairman and Penrith livestock farmer David Raine.

It says the decline in the dairy industry is having a knock-on effect on the wider economy, impacting others including feed merchants, veterinary practices and other supply businesses.

Kirkoswald dairy farmer Les Armstrong said: “It is a well-known fact that every dairy farmer indirectly supports another 15 jobs in terms of vets, feed and fertiliser merchants and machinery sales.


Les Armstrong “The figures in the letter give a fair impression of the situation Cumbrian dairy farmers are facing at the moment but, looking at how many have left the industry and how much the average dairy farm is worth to the county’s economy, I would say the figure is nearer £100m.”

Former Carlisle dairy producer Tom Johnston said it was a “no-brainer” when he left the industry due to the milk price crash.

“We had absolutely no choice,” he said. “There was no point in staying in the industry to make no money, and with no end in sight to the milk price cuts.”

Mr Johnston, who lives at High Burnthwaite, Durdar, said some producers were getting up every morning to earn no money.

“But there are those who are getting up to lose more money and a lot of it,” he added. “I know of a farmer who is currently getting 13ppl for his milk, but it will soon be going down to 6ppl.”

Today, the best price Cumbrian dairy farmers can expect for their milk, says the letter, is about 18ppl, down from around 31ppl just 18 months ago. It costs farmers 31ppl to produce.

The amount paid to the county’s farms is now at its lowest level for eight years.


Colin Glover Colin Glover, Carlisle City Council leader, says the closure of dairy farms is having a “huge knock-on effect” on businesses.

“A third of Carlisle district is in the rural area,” he said. “You only have to look at Rosehill and Kingstown industrial estates to see how many big businesses there are that depend on the local agricultural industry.

“Ministers and MPs need to sit up and look at this.”

Mr Armstrong continued: “This is tragic. Dairy farmers are going out of business as we speak, and we are in this boat partly because of the lack of investment in the county.”

He warned that action must be taken swiftly because “there is worse to come”, adding that one of the county’s bigger dairy farming families, Richard Fisher of Mellguards, near Southwaite, had recently left the industry, selling his farm and dairy enterprise.

“He told me he was not prepared to borrow more money to sink into a business with no returns,” said Mr Armstrong.

“He regrets having to sell, but as a young man with a young family he was left with no choice.”

In his letter, Mr Raine points out there are a number of areas which could help address the dairy situation in Cumbria.

These include attracting new investment in processing in the county; a producer organisation would bring together farmers and processors in a bid to negotiate fairer milk prices; advice to help farmers better manage volatility in the market place and encouraging public sector organisations across Cumbria to source local dairy products.