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How has COVID-19 affected producers across GB?
Tuesday, 12 May 2020
By Felicity Rusk
At a GB level, we estimate that around 25% of producers have, so far, been highly impacted by the ramifications of the pandemic. But how does this vary between the devolved nations?
 Producer numbers impacted by degree.png)
With almost 75% of British dairy producers farming in England, the breakdown remains broadly in-line with the GB averages. However, the trends vary considerably in both Wales and Scotland.
Almost half of Welsh producers have been highly affected by COVID-19. This is due to the higher occurrence of farmers affected by reductions to milk prices and requests to reduce production volumes. With such a considerable proportion of Welsh producers affected, the Welsh Government has introduced funding support. Nevertheless, COVID-19 has the potential to re-shape certain aspects of the Welsh dairy industry.
In contrast, we estimate that 46% of Scottish dairy farmers have seen no impacts on their business as a result of COVID-19. For those who have been impacted, the majority (38%) have seen a ‘low’ level of disruption. There has been some isolated incidents of milk disposal on-farm, and a handful of buyers have announced price drops. As such, we estimate that less than 5% of Scottish dairy farmers have been highly impacted by the pandemic, at this time.
Click on the panels below for a more in-depth break down by GB country.
Of the dairy producers within England, so far:
- 56% have suffered a reduction in farmgate prices during the spring
- 20% have been asked to reduce milk output
- 7% have had the volume they are paid a full price on reduced
- 6% have had payments deferred
- 4% have had milk collections cancelled
- 23% have seen no changes
However, a number of farmers have suffered more than one of these impacts.
 English producer numbers by impact.png)
With almost 75% of British dairy producers farming in England, the proportion of producers affected by each impact remain broadly in-line with the GB averages.
 English producer numbers impacted by degree.png)
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Of the dairy producers within Wales so far:
- 58% have suffered a reduction in farmgate prices during the spring
- 45% have been asked to reduce milk output
- 8% have had the volume they are paid a full price on reduced
- 4% have had payments deferred
- 4% have had milk collections cancelled
- 24% have seen no changes
However, a number of farmers have suffered more than one of these impacts.
 Welsh producer numbers by impact.png)
So far, around 73% of Welsh producers have seen some impact on their farming business as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Of these, we estimate that 46% have seen a ‘high’ impact.
 Welsh producer numbers impacted by degree.png)
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Of the dairy producers within Scotland, so far:
- 29% have suffered a reduction in farmgate prices during the spring
- 26% have been asked to reduce milk output
- 4% have had the volume they are paid a full price on reduced
- 13% have had milk collections cancelled
- None have had payments deferred
- 42% have seen no changes
However, a number of farmers have suffered more than one of these impacts.
 Scottish producer numbers by impact.png)
So far, just over half of Scottish producers have seen some impact on their farming business as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Of these, we estimate that just under 5% have seen a ‘high’ impact on their business, considerably lower than the national average (21%).
 Scottish producer numbers impacted by degree.png)
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