Shropshire farming couple forced to sell off their herd because of falling milk prices

Neil and Jayne Madeley, from Lower Monkhall, in Bridgnorth, said that after seeing prices drop since April they had no choice but look at other ventures.

Mr Madeley, 56, comes from a long line of dairy farmers but after 100 years the family connection will stop once the his short horn cows are sold at auction on Friday.

Mrs Madeley, 53, who is also clerk of Gorge, Astley Abbotts, Ditton Priors, Easthope Shipton and Stanton Long, and Cardington parish councils, said they simply could not balance the bills any longer.

A 1p per litre cut means for the couple, who were locked into a contract with farmer-owned co-operative, First Milk, means a drop in revenue of about £62,000 a year.

Mrs Madeley said: "From October 1 we've seen another drop. We knew it would be challenging and we set up meetings with accountants and consultants to see what we could do.

"But there were no more hours in the week we could give and no more room really on the farm for enough extra cows.

"It's very sad but sometimes these decisions have to be made."

Last week, dairy farmer Jim Franklin, from Newport, also revealed he had been forced to quit, blaming a "volatile" industry that he could no longer rely on for a living.

Mr Franklin has closed the family farm of 32 years, selling his 100 cows and all his equipment.

He and his family were tenants at Park Farm on the Aqualate Estate, on the outskirts of Newport.

But today he is looking for a new job as he faces the future with his wife Jules and their three children.

Mrs Madeley said her husband also had been totally dedicated to the herd, which produced 52,000 litres of milk per month, and it was hoped he could find work on another dairy farm, working as a contractor rather than looking after his own herd.

The couple, whose sons, Dave, 18, and James, 22, also work in the agriculture trade, have since bought 50 sheep.

About 50 of their dairy cows will be sold on Friday and October 28.

"It's been purely a business decision and you can only deal with what's in front of you," said Mrs Madeley.

"All our cows have a name and we know all their personalities, but the industry is getting more industrialised now.

"We did look at buying some of Jim Franklin's herd three weeks ago to try and produce more milk but then we got a call the very next day saying milk prices would be reduced again.

"Because of the good weather all dairy farmers have been producing more milk, which means there has been a surplus amount.

"China has stopped buying western milk for some reason and we've also been affected by the ban on European products in Russia.

"We have friends in places like New Zealand who are also struggling for the same reason.

"We are not doing this for sympathy but we're both in our 50s now so we have to think about the future.

"Not many people our age still milk twice a day."