Up next in 10
LBC's Chris Chambers heads to a UK farm to discover why Marie Stephenson is aiming to milk 10,000 cows in 10 days.
Stephenson, who milked professionally at a dairy farm for just over a year after university, outlines why the farming industry is facing its biggest crisis in decades.
This comes as the UK braces for a 38C scorcher and over 70% of England is now in drought.
Listen to the full show on the all-new LBC App: https://app.af.lbc.co.uk/btnc/thenewlbcapp
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0:00
It's very, very, very difficult to be able to afford things
0:04
I've had a wonderful life in this industry and I just feel for them
0:11
Marie Stevenson is milking 10,000 cows in 10 days right across the UK
0:16
and this is why she thinks it will help save lives in the farming industry
0:21
We've had a sad time in our local community. There's been a lot of pressure on farming lately
0:25
and three people very close to us ageing from 15 to 60 year old
0:30
chosen to take their own lives. And while I was sat in bed and we were talking about how it's
0:35
impacted the community, the school, everything, and I decided that I just needed to do something
0:39
to raise awareness. We've had a laugh and we've had some very deep conversations, but it's all
0:44
about the cows. We've not had anything about money pressure particularly. It's all about
0:49
I just want it to rain because I need some grass for my cows, but we'll be all right. They try and
0:54
jivvy themselves up. We'll be all right. The rain will come and we'll just harvest later if we can get on the land but it's that little bit of stress at the back of their heads why is it so tough at
1:01
the moment the weather's not helped this year the milk price collapsed so they're struggling to make
1:07
money anyway they cope with the money side it's hard you know they're raising families and everything
1:12
but it's more when the weather's now kicked in they're worried sick that these animals aren't
1:16
going to have anything to eat and some are selling already started to sell some because they know
1:20
that there's going to be no forage this year and they love these animals and the thought of them
1:24
going hungry, it's just making people poorly because you're stressed all the time
1:29
There's governmental pressures. It's always a volatile industry anyway, so you never know. You can't
1:35
forecast particularly well like other businesses because you don't know what you're going to get paid
1:38
You don't know what the weather's going to do. And then there's the fuel price and all the input costs. They have so much
1:45
things to consider. It's very multifaceted, but yeah, they're very bright people
1:48
and they're very good in adversity. But just lately, it seems to have just
1:52
been the last straw for a lot of them. These guys, they're not rich
1:57
They've a lot of assets, but you can't spend them because they're in love with what they do
2:01
And, you know, they build it up for the next generation. They make sure that it's set up so it can be passed on to the next generation
2:08
And what the inheritance tax thing has done is basically the next generation starts from square one Chris is the farmer here and he told me it a huge battle for so many reasons We have absolutely beautiful calm cows They an absolute pleasure to work with
2:23
and we're extremely happy what we do. Unfortunately, because we're a small farm
2:31
the organic milk cooperative has decided that they don't want to come and collect our milk anymore
2:35
because it's not economically viable. So from the 1st of March next year, we actually don't have a milk contract
2:42
So the choices for us are to sell the cows or to try to sell milk from the farm gate ourselves
2:50
which is what we're going to try and do. How tough is it to be in that space then
2:54
Because obviously people just assume it will just constantly keep flowing. again
3:01
what the processors are looking for farms with hundreds of cows so that when they come to empty the milk tank
3:08
it's got thousands and thousands of litres in it and I you can understand it
3:13
the cost of a lorry driver's wage and the cost of fuel to go in the tanker is the same
3:17
whether it's getting 10,000 litres of milk or 1,500 litres of milk
3:22
I mean there's obviously been so much talk around the future of farming
3:26
and things like that what are your feelings around this space at the moment and the challenges
3:32
I think that it's tough, but I think that with more public awareness
3:38
and there seems to be a lot more, on social media, there seems to be a lot more support from the public for farmers and so on
3:44
So we're hoping that we can use that to our advantage and be able to sell milk straight from the farm gate
3:51
And we hope that people will come to the farm, see what we do
3:55
see how nice and quiet our cows are and hopefully people will see the value in buying milk from us
4:03
even if it's a little bit more expensive because of it to work the way we do with these cows costs
4:09
more money than a great big farm with two or three hundred on yeah but if people can see the
4:13
value in that hello love then hopefully it'll work out for us tough times ahead though you get the
4:20
sense when you talk to people that they want to support this industry that just don necessarily know how to do it or what the challenges are What can they do to help The obvious way to try and support local farmers is if there is a farm shop
4:35
or if there is a farm that sells products direct, go and buy it. You know, there's a saying, use it or lose it
4:42
And I think that's really apt for what we do. But I think the main thing is awareness
4:48
Hi, love. The main thing is awareness. If people understand, some people think that dairy farming is not necessarily the nicest
4:57
kind of farm. They don't understand, they think that we don't look after the animals and so on. It's just not true on a farm like this
5:04
At the moment the weather is a major factor in their difficulties
5:08
You can see the colour of the grass, you know there's no green left in it. We had a couple
5:12
of showers last week and we were quite excited but they started and stopped quite quickly
5:16
so it's not greened over as much as it might. And the cows are not hungry
5:21
We've got some fields where the grass is longer than this but dark and they're eating it and it's filling their tummies
5:26
but it's not got the sugars in it that it needs for them to produce as much milk as they might normally do
5:31
They'll say as long as they're not hungry and they always get extra food in the parlour too to make sure
5:36
well they're not hungry, they're quite happy. They just don't, in this weather, don't quite produce as much milk
5:41
as they might normally do. The Prime Minister's only just in the job
5:46
he runs around these parts, he's well known in these parts what would your message be to him
5:51
I think that I think the PM or people that advise him
5:56
or people that are helping him do his job because he can't do everything need to come out and see
6:00
go out and go to farms and visit farms and talk to farms engage with them
6:04
and find ways to work together to make things to keep things going
6:10
What would you say to him if he came here? I would get him to do exactly what Marie's done this morning
6:16
I get him in there to work with the cows and I know from watching you and watching Rhi this morning
6:23
and anyone that comes in and works with these cows walks out with a totally different opinion of how
6:28
they are and what we do. What's the realistic scenario if things don't improve? Are we going
6:36
to see farms closing down people walking away Yeah it small farms face many challenges like Every farm needs a tractor and a trailer and those things are really expensive If you got a small farm producing a small amount of produce
6:49
whether it's milk or whether it's wheat or whether it's barley or whatever, you still have to pay the same price for all the machinery you need to do it
6:57
And it's very, very, very difficult to be able to afford things
7:02
From being eaten by a cow. I'm not surprised. I'm not surprised
7:06
So that's why we lose small farms, because they end up joining together and getting bigger and bigger and bigger
7:13
so they can afford to carry on. And I don't think there's an easy answer to stop that
7:18
Marie's milking challenge began in Devon and will finish in Scotland, and she says it has been an eye-opener
7:24
For you, what's the experience been like? Just, just quite emotional, actually
7:31
Things are good. It's OK. it's just been special people and special animals
7:39
where do you think that emotion comes from? just I've had a wonderful life
7:45
in this industry I just feel for them I feel for the people
7:51
I worry for the animals and what's going to happen if it doesn't continue
7:55
do you see it getting better? I have a lot of faith in these people
8:01
they're so resilient that are adaptable, so yeah, I do have faith
8:05
that they'll tough it out. The ones that want to be here, they'll
8:09
tough it out, but you feel like we're torturing them. And it's a shame
8:16
because everything they've worked on for all their lives, everything they've worked for all their lives
8:24
they're passing it to the children with this huge burden on it
8:27
and yeah, it makes it very difficult. We know the Prime Minister's new in post
8:33
is on tour at the moment, he's wanting to hear what people have to say, what would you say to them if you had five minutes of them? Just really educate yourself in it before you make any decisions
8:43
and really understand the complexities of farming and how the assets and the capital work within a
8:48
farming business and then make your decisions to make sure that because you're not going to have
8:53
any of these guys left if you're not careful and food security is massive at the moment
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