Reduction of dairy herds (FOI)

​Request

A

How many dairy farmers have been paid money to reduce their herds in the past 20 years?

B

How much has this cost in total?

C

Did any of those paid money not retire from dairy farming?

D

What was the average cost of the money paid per animal?

E

What was the number of milking cows 20 years ago and what is it now?

F

Is this scheme still in operation?

G

How many dairy herds were there 20 years ago and how many exist now?

H

What is the total number of dairy cows in Jersey now?

Response

The answers below are limited to the allocation of Government funds only, for the purposes specified, and do not therefore include reference to schemes / funds paid to farmers directly by Jersey Dairy as part of their managed restructuring process, which has been ongoing throughout the 20 year period.

The funds allocated by government were paid as part of a restructure process carried out in 2002, and this information has been extracted from the strategic review on the dairy industry in Jersey carried out by Donald McQueen in 2003. Since 2002 government funds have not been used to directly pay farmers to reduce their herds.

A

13 dairy farmers have been paid money to reduce their herds in the last 20 years.

B

The total cost to Government of Jersey was £780k.

C

At the time yes, there were some that did not retire from dairy farming, although subsequently some may have retired.

D

The average cost per animal was £728.

E

There were 4,549 milking cows in 1999.

As of May 2019 there were 2,581 milking cows.

F

No, it is no longer in operation.

G

In 1999 there were 74 dairy herds.

There are currently 17 dairy herds.

H

The last available figure known was 4,064 as at October 2018, although there have been reductions since this date.