Life without quotas will be just as hard

摘要

Last month, Milk Development Council member John Gibson put forward a view of how life for dairy farmers was likely to change, from his perspective in the dairy trade. Fellow MDC member Martin Stanbury (left), a producer in Cornwall, now gives his version. Life under a more relaxed quota regime will prove just as hard, with buyer contracts continuing to put constraints on production. Producers who believe that a quota-free environment will create the opportunity to produce more milk, without regard to market needs, will be in for a shock. Farm assurance schemes and buyer contracts will impose just as much control on the way we produce our milk. However, the big difference is that this form of control will be linked to volume.