Time to concentrate on cutting unnecessary expenditure

THE luxuries of dairy farming – quad bikes, jeeps and expensive housing or machinery – have been ruled out, as milk producers enter an era of belt tightening.

Knock them off your shopping list, says Teagasc Chief Dairy Advisor Dermot McCarthy, and focus capital expenditure in profit-making areas of the business.

Mr McCarthy directed his advice to dairy farmers who want to remain in business, generating a reasonable return, in his Dairying, Where to Now review in Todays Farm, the magazine circulated to Teagasc’s top farming clients. He predicted milk price staying at present levels for most of the decade, but production costs and family living expenses increasing, leading to a price-cost squeeze on dairy farms.