UK organic dairy farmers fear for futures as food prices soar

theguardian.com:

Organic dairy, for so long the sector’s success story, is facing a crisis of confidence, with fears about whether people will keep buying organic milk, butter and cheese as food prices soar.

Some UK organic farmers are being paid a milk price that is lower than the price some of their non-organic competitors get.

On-farm costs have been spiralling. Organic feed prices have tripled year on year thanks to high shipping costs dating back to disruption from the pandemic hiking the price of commodities such as organic soy coming from Asia.

The sector has recorded little growth in sales in the UK over the past five years. Overall, organic dairy sales are smaller (1% of cheese and 5% of milk) compared with European countries such as France or Germany. In Denmark, more than one-third of milk sales are organic.

Retailers say organic milk and dairy is struggling to stand out to consumers, on shelves crammed with a host of new standards and commitments being rolled out by conventional milk brands and producers, such as claims of “free-range” cows. There is also stiff competition from alternative milks, with sales of oat, almond and soy milk rising fast.

Unsurprisingly, there have been reports of producers ditching their organic status and moving over to claim a higher milk price as a conventional farmer. “Others will be looking too,” said a dairy farmer at a recent industry event.

Tim Downes, an organic dairy farmer in Shropshire, said the difference between milk prices and feed costs was “untenable” at the moment and predicted organic milk buyers would be short of milk soon, with farmers either switching to conventional or producing less.

“We’ve got to be positive in our messaging as organic farmers and let consumers know how much