12/12/06
The Royal Association of British Dairy Farmers has reiterated
the importance to dairy producers of including a realistic allocation
of at least 4ppl for unpaid labour into their dairy enterprise
costings.
The statement was made in light of the recent release from the
MLC into the true costs of unpaid family labour on cattle and sheep
farms.
The MLC study mirrors and substantiates the work done by RABDF
in 2005, which determined that on average unpaid family labour
equated to an additional 3.81ppl on the cost of milk production.
RABDF chairman, Tim Brigstocke comments: “It is essential
dairy farmers make sure their costings reflect the true costs of
milk production, which are currently around 21ppl. In order to
establish an accurate representation of the financial state of
their dairy enterprise, the inclusion of a notional figure in their
costings to account for their unpaid labour input is of paramount
importance. We suggest introducing a value of at least 4ppl.
“Recent findings from the Dairy Event 2006 survey show that
farmers are struggling to quantify their milk production costs
from within their diverse businesses, with a large proportion significantly
underestimating them,” he says. “We recommend farmers
utilise the RABDF Independent Guidelines for Dairy Costing Schemes
as a template, a tool which was specifically designed to help dairy
farms with their budgeting.”
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