West Country farmer talks of huge pressures as cheddar prices soar
A new report says cheddar prices are up by nearly 30 percent
A West Country farmer is telling us of the huge issues facing the industry, as a new report says making one of Somerset's most famous exports has got much more expensive.
On Monday (17 April) the consumer group Which? published analysis of more than 26,000 food and drink products at eight major supermarkets, and found the cost of cheddar cheese has increased by 28.3 per cent in the three months to March 2023, compared to the same period the year before.
Off the back of that research we have spoken to Hugh Padfield who runs the Bath Soft Cheese Company.
He says all their costs are going up, with farming suffering "on a number of different fronts".
One of the issues, Hugh says, is a decision by the government post Brexit to change the system offering subsidies to landowners.
Previously as part of an EU scheme farmers were given a lump sum payment from the government to help cover their costs, with more money handed out depending on the amount of land owned.
However, with the introduction of a new piece of legislation, the Agriculture Act 2020, the government is now beginning to pay landowners for doing specific things with their land instead, including stopping farming altogether and re-wilding the land instead.
This means allowing the land to return to its natural state which is considered environmentally friendly, but means farmers are essentially now being encouraged not to farm.
"Most farmers in the UK are going to be significantly worse off this year, than they were three or four years ago, as the government phases out the old support for farming," Hugh said.
"On top of that, farmers are then competing to rent their land with landlords being subsidised to do nothing with their land, and so rents are increasing.
"Then you've got the energy price increases that we've all seen, we've got the staff cost increases as the labour shortages (hit)...we've also got the National Insurance increases, so all these things are really impacting farmers.
"On top of that a lot of agricultural feed, so if you're buying in cereals to feed cattle on, they've increased significantly in cost because of the war in Ukraine.
"So basically all the costs for farmers have gone up significantly and that in turn is forcing up the cost of producing milk and producing cheese, so it really is a battle."
Hugh tells us he "desperately" tries to avoid pushing these cost increases onto the consumer.
"We still want it (the cheese) to be available to as many people as possible but it is so difficult to make the numbers add up when all the inputs, the energy costs, the staff costs, the land rent, is all going up in costs."
Following their research on inflation, Which? received statements from many of the top supermarkets.
"We’re working hard to keep prices in check for customers despite global inflationary pressures and we remain the lowest-priced major supermarket – a position recognised by Which," a spokesperson for Asda said.
"We recently announced we would be freezing the prices of over 500 popular branded and own label products, more than half of which are fresh meat, dairy, fruit and vegetable products until the end of May."
An Ocado spokesperson said: 'At Ocado, everything we do starts with our customers and we know how important value is to them right now.
"We continue to support our customers by investing in price across branded and own-brand products.
"We've also recently introduced the Ocado Price Promise so customers can be sure they’re getting great value."
A Sainsbury's spokesperson said: 'With costs going up, we are working hard to keep prices low.
"In the last two years, we have invested over £550m into lowering prices as part of our goal to put food back at the heart of Sainsbury’s.
"We're committed to doing everything we can to support customers with the rising cost of living."
A Waitrose spokesperson said: "As Which? highlighted last month, dairy is one of the categories most impacted by inflation, and no retailer is immune to this.
"We’re working hard to keep our prices as low as possible, whilst paying our farmers and suppliers fairly, and maintaining high animal welfare standards."
Which say Aldi, Lidl and Morrisons declined to give a formal comment while Tesco did not respond.
We have also asked the government for a statement in response to Hugh's views on the subsidy system.