No one can deny that there is a problem with the dairy industry which is caused by world oversupply, primarily caused by new technology in cow management – and never mind how many meetings with good intentions and paper articles it will not go away.

We are told by people that should know better that the efficient will survive and the small and inefficient will fail and this will sort out the oversupply. I wish it was that simple.

The real problem is that we are moving away from the traditional way of producing milk off grass in the summer and silage and concentrates in the winter with expected annual yields of between 5,000 and 6,000 litres per cow.

The new system is to keep the cows in all the year round and are fed mainly on concentrates and silage, but mainly concentrates with expected yields of up to 12,000 litres per cow per year.

Replacement heifers would be kept on the same system and expected to join the milking herd at two-year-old and not as now expected at three years and when they are exhausted and no longer productive we eat them.

Our fields will be empty of grazing stock in the summer and the land would be used to grow cereal and silage to feed the indoor animals that are really on a forced fed system when the name of the game is extra production.

This is similar to what we saw happening to the pig and poultry industry 40 years ago.

As with poultry size did not matter although the small survived longer than the medium size and the large ones went to the wall, but they all went eventually and now we rely on our bacon and egg for breakfast on imported bacon and eggs.

Will we in future be pouring imported milk on our cereal?

I think we will.

Unfortunately we have to accept what the economy dictates, with empty fields of livestock and the young men leaving their family tradition to seek a living in the city and with it our village schools, churches and chapels.

Although I do not like what is happening, we have to accept that the supermarkets and housewife have the last word.

Sir Eric Howells CBE

Llandewi Velfrey