'No money in organic milk' (From Western Telegraph)

'No money in organic milk'

A Pembrokeshire dairy farmer has abandoned organic production in favour of bottling conventionally produced milk.

Robert Gibby couldn't make enough money from the rock-bottom organic milk price to sustain his business and has reverted to conventional dairying methods.

With the help of a Welsh Development Agency grant, he has invested £20,000 in a new bottling plant at Sarn Gwm Farm, Bethesda, Narberth. On Thursday he delivered his first orders of 'Llaeth Bethesda' to local retailers. He has secured daily orders for 400 litres and will continue to supply First Milk with his remaining 600 litres.

If he had not taken this diversification step he admits he would have struggled to stay in business. Last spring he was paid 26 pence a litre for his organic milk but that figure has now dropped to 12.6 pence. "I believe in organic production and I would prefer to still be producing organic milk but there was no way I could have kept going with those figures," he said. "I will be keeping the land organic but there was no demand from retailers when I approached them about selling bottled organic milk.

"The majority of local consumers aren't willing to pay the organic premium. To them milk is milk."

Robert milks the herd at 5 am and delivers milk pasteurised the previous day to his customers before 7.30 pm. "It's a lot of work, more than I anticipated but I look upon it as a positive move." Last week, he took delivery of 45,000 plastic milk containers.

By reverting to conventional production, Robert has increased his mixed herd of Ayrshire and Holsteins to 55. His herd was spring-calving and he has bought a further 12 cows to boost his autumn and winter production levels. The herd is milked in a 6/6 abreast parlour.

Robert and his wife, Sharon, a policewoman, began farming on a small council-owned holding before they bought 50-acre Sarn Gwm eight years ago. They rent a further 30 acres of pasture land and 45 acres of silage ground.