A farmer's life is not a happy one

Life is tough in the farming industry today - and that fact is highlighted by local dairy farmer Jonnie Alden (pictured), writes Ian Townsend.

He's the fourth generation farming land at Wheatley Bridge Farm and he's seeing colleagues all round the area failing and going out of business.

"The work starts at a quarter to five in the morning with a dairy herd - the animals need looking after and milking. And it never seems to stop all through the day. But you do wonder after a while where all this hard work is getting you. I have two full-time staff and the overheads never go down - only the profit margins do that. Calf prices are still very low. If they have risen at all over the last year it is only marginally. Where I could get £100 for a calf three years ago, I'm lucky now if I can get 50p."

"Yet the animals have to be fed, watered and looked after - and that does not come cheap. Milk prices are down 30 per cent on three years ago. Cows which have finished milking used to be sold for £700 - now they're £280. Farming today is a case of tightening the belt. Ok, you can make a living - just. But the profits are dropping. And the future does not look a lot brighter.

"The only good thing on the farming scene is that feed has gone down very slightly. "It's no wonder that farmers are going out of business - a lot of people I knew as good farmers have fallen by the wayside."

Mr Alden, who has 170 milking Holstein Friesians on his land with 200 other animals, says the future is not good for farming generally. "You can see why people despair. My bull calves are worth next to nothing in today's climate, and beef breed heifers are still worth very little. All one can do is hope that there's a better future ahead and some fair rewards for the work farmers put into their industry."

Story date: Thursday 30 March

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Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.