Further work to develop new commercial opportunities for the north-east dairy farming sector is to be carried out, after extensive consultation with milk producers, buyers and processors identified a number of potential investments.
Plans to explore investment opportunities for the sector in greater detail received the unanimous backing of dairy farmers at a meeting on Tuesday (6 September 2016) evening.
Private sector economic development body Opportunity North East (ONE) and Aberdeenshire Council have already jointly funded a market options study for the sector, following the closure of the Muller Wiseman milk processing plant in Aberdeen. This study was commissioned on behalf of producers in Aberdeenshire and Angus and was carried out by HRA Food & Drink consultants and the Scottish Agricultural Organisation Society (SAOS).
Almost all producers in the region have supply contracts with Muller Wiseman. Their milk is now trucked to Bellshill in Glasgow, but suffers a transport charge of 1.75p/l. This and generally low milk prices raised serious questions over the future of dairy production in the north-east of Scotland.
Dairy farmers from across the north-east attended a meeting at Thainstone Centre on Tuesday evening to hear the results of the initial study into the market options for local milk producers. The feedback session covered the position and intentions of local milk producers who were surveyed as part of the study, potential market options and the potential for local milk and milk product supply.
With the unanimous approval of dairy farmers who attended this week’s meeting, ONE and the Council have now committed to fund the next stage of the study, which will examine in detail the specific investment opportunities that have emerged from the study, with the aim of securing a long term future for the local dairy sector.
Peter Cook, Director of Food, Drink and Agriculture at ONE, said: “Centralised buying and distribution by retailers, and the increasing shelf life of liquid milk, have led to a concentration of distribution centres and processing in the Central Belt of Scotland or further south. This puts North-east dairy producers at an economic disadvantage, so our aim is to help producers to find alternative uses for their milk.
“Although this has been a very tough time for many dairy producers in the North-east it’s great to hear that most intend to stay in production and as a result of the study a number of milk processing businesses are interested in investing in the area.
“Stage two of the study will now look in detail at each of these potential investments. This will not be an easy task, but our work with the food and drink industry tells us that there are exciting opportunities for milk and dairy products, so we should be positive about the future. We are committed to working with the producers, their NFU Scotland representatives and Aberdeenshire Council to bring new investment and market opportunities to the region,” said Mr Cook.
Councillor David Aitchison, Chair of Aberdeenshire Council’s Infrastructure Service Committee, whose remit includes economic development and agriculture, said: “The dairy industry spoke with one unanimous voice and now we must all take notice. This is an opportunity to develop a strategy which will have local dairy farmers at its very heart, which is encouraging for a sector that often feels side lined.
“Moving this project on to stage two means the sector now has a chance to play a pivotal part in the investigation of options for their future, with a view to securing a centre of excellence in the area. We have an opportunity to make the most of the passion within the industry and their desire to remain at the heart of securing their own future,” said Councillor Aitchison.