On the latest episode of BBC’s Countryfile, presenter Charlotte Smith shared a poignant moment with Hamish McIntosh, a farmer forced to abandon the dairy industry after a lifetime dedicated to the trade. The episode, aired on 26 April, revealed the harsh financial pressures that compelled Hamish to make the difficult decision to close the family farm, which had been producing milk for nearly 80 years.
Hamish, who began working on the farm at age 12, explained the staggering expenses required to maintain a competitive dairy operation today. “To stay in this dairy industry and keep up to speed, we looked at spending about £1.5 million,” he said. “I’d be putting a new shed up with better comfort cubicles and a new milking parlour, we’d have to do it just to keep our cost down really.”
Charlotte detailed the market realities, noting that around ten major dairy processors and farming co-operatives dominate milk purchasing, each setting their own pricing contracts. Unfortunately, Hamish was receiving just 29p per litre—well below the cost of production. This pricing discrepancy resulted in monthly losses of around £30,000, forcing him to shut down his milking parlour, end his dairy operation, and sell off 280 of his cattle.
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Reflecting on the emotional toll, Hamish admitted, “Very sad, absolutely. Yeah, I felt pretty devastated afterwards.” He appeared visibly emotional on camera, a reaction he hadn’t anticipated. “No, not at all actually. I thought we could deal with it, but yeah, it’s hard. Even though it’s hard work, it is quite hard.”
With just 80 cows left to milk for a few remaining days until his contract expires, Hamish’s story illustrates a broader decline in the dairy sector. Charlotte shared that across England, Wales, and Scotland, the number of dairy farms has dropped by 200 in the last year alone. This decline is part of a longer-term trend, with the total number falling by half over the past two decades.
While falling milk prices play a critical role, other factors also challenge dairy farmers’ profitability. Two years ago, the introduction of the Fair Dealing Obligations aimed to improve transparency and fairness in contracts between farmers and processors. Dairy UK acknowledged the difficult market conditions and emphasized the role of these regulations while noting they cannot fully offset global oversupply pressures.
For farmers facing contract disputes, Dairy UK advised initially addressing concerns with dairy processors and highlighted that the Fair Trading Obligations grant farmers the right to request explanations for price determinations.
Hamish’s story on Countryfile provides a stark insight into the emotional and financial challenges confronting rural dairy farmers today and underscores the broader shifts reshaping the industry.