Cheap milk costs dear

We’re used to the poorest nations having crises over food security, but there was a stark warning this week of how precarious supplies may quickly become in even the richest countries, as the impact of climate change is felt. The Australian government said it would have to turn off the irrigation to half the country’s agricultural land if the worst drought in a century continues for another month. That would mean wiping out nearly all of Australia’s vegetable and fruit production, decimating vineyards and losing large parts of its wheat and beef exports. But Prime Minister John Howard said it may soon come to a choice between water for people to drink and such drastic action. Food prices rose immediately. As China loses more of its arable land to environmental damage, it too is worrying about food security.

Strategic planners can see that the threat from global warming and peak oil means there will be fights over land use sooner rather than later – will we use it for growing food or fuel? How we feed ourselves as a nation may soon become as urgent a question as it did during the second world war.



Yet we appear to be quietly abandoning chunks of our farming sector, as the Women’s Institute’s Great Milk Debate launched today highlights.

Three British dairy farmers leave the industry every day, driven out by low prices, as our Guardian analysis today shows. Those that hang on in there selling their milk at, or even below, the cost of production are being forced to intensify, often using imported grains for concentrated feeds, to extract ever higher yields from their cows.

Guardian