Guernsey Dairy expect losses of half a million pounds this year

Kate Prout reports...

Guernsey Dairy are expecting to make a loss of more than £500,000 this year.

This is despite milk prices going up later this month in an attempt to offset farmers' costs.

Wholesale prices, which is the amount Guernsey Dairy charges milk distributors, will rise by 12.6% from 12 March to reflect increased production costs over the last two years.

Farmers have faced inflationary price rises in raw materials and energy since Brexit and Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

The increase in milk prices will allow them to have a 10% uplift in their pay, but before this change, Guernsey Dairy say they were predicting a loss of more than £800,000.

Stuart Falla, who chairs the Dairy Management Board, says that historically the States has provided more financial support for the dairy industry.

He says that support "has been significantly reduced in recent years, and its value continues to be eroded each year by the impact of inflation.

“The result is that farmers are having to rely more on income from their milk, and that is being passed on to consumers through the retail price, which we have seen increase significantly in recent years.

"We suffer from being under-supported as an industry."