Farming’s salvation

I recently came across an intriquing report which related to the development of the Milk Industry in West Wales, 1928-1961, which included photographs and documents scanned from a scrapbook, produced by P. F. Carter, to provide a record of the development of the milk industry.

P. F. Carter was appointed manager of the Retail Dairymen’s Mutual Ltd. (based at the creamery at Carmarthen), in 1928.

He started by visiting farms throughout West Wales and holding meetings for farmers at marts in order to obtain a regular milk for processing in local dairies, and then transporting it by train to the London market. Recognising its potential, the company rapidly expanded, setting up creameries throughout the three counties - Carmarthenshire, Cardiganshire and Pembrokeshire.

This was an important period of expansion for milk production in West Wales in which technical, health and educational developments had major impacts, as well the requirements for milk during the Second World War.

“I have the honour to represent a county that sends 20 million gallons of milk annually to London and has now 2,000 tested herds. I believe this is a record for any county throughout the whole country,” claimed Daniel Hopkin, the MP for Carmarthenshire claimed in 1939. He added: “In the matter of tuberculin attested herds, Cardigan is a steady first with 85 per cent, Carmarthen has 69, and Pembroke 45.5 - the average for England is no more than 10 per cent.” (Hansard, December 14, 1948).

Despite many smallholders producing very limited quantities, P. F. Carter claimed: “The coming of the milk factories was the salvation of the dairy farmer.”

Milk pricing continues to be highly volatile. The initial recovery from the nine-year low price of 19.95 pence per litre - average UK farmgate price excluding any bonuses -in June 2016 was sustained through the autumn and spring, before easing through the summer of 2017.

With UK milk in relatively short supply, little surplus milk in Europe, and the weak pound (£), prices look set to increase further through the winter and into the spring of 2018.

Following the recent milk price volatility, a number of milk processors have developed their own fixed price/futures mechanisms to allow producers to lock in at a set price reducing volatility at farm level. One example is Glanbia on Anglesey (where a great deal of milk produced in West Wales is headed for) who have announced a five-year fixed milk price contract, which is a world first.

Work should continue on new market development as over the next 10 years, global consumption of dairy products is expected to continue increasing at an annual rate of 1.8 per cent, the Commissioner outlined.

“This is based on the projection that per capita consumption of dairy products will grow from 110kg in 2016 to close to 120kg in 2026, with the highest growth expected in Asian countries.

“This is why I have been travelling the world to find new markets for our dairy products, most recently to Saudi Arabia and Iran. The main destinations for EU butter are the USA, Saudi Arabia, Iran and China.”

Times past

“Come stroll for a while through my memory and I’ll tell you of times long ago when we walked to school summer and winter, barefoot through the fields we would go.

“I remember our little thatched cottage and the half-door led into the hall, the crane o’er the fire in the kitchen and the grandfather clock on the wall.

“Oh, the stout it was cured with a poker and downing it they said cured the flu - the bacon it hung from the ceiling, sure this story I tell you is true.

“We went in the trap to church on Sundays and granddad would wear his best hat, the priest would recite from the altar and the women in different seats sat.

“Matchmaking was part of tradition and the rambling house filled up at night when the teller would relate the ghost stories, oh, the children would shiver with fright.

“I remember the sound of the anvil and the burning horse-hoof we would smell as we passed the forge door in the evening with water we fetched from the well.

“We gathered the cows in for milking, tied the horse to the wall through the shoe, his collar and hames, his winkers and reins, the harness we kept it like new.

“For miles to the fair in the darkness with our animals we walked with delight, when the wheeling and dealing was over, everyone waited on for the fight.

“Now I hope that in telling this story I haven’t detained you too long for there is so much more I must tell you -some day before too long.” (Contributed).

Festive spirit

An eye witness account from New York City, on a cold day in December, some years ago:

A little boy, about 10-years-old, was standing before a shoe store on the roadway, barefooted, peering through the window, and shivering with cold. A lady approached the young boy and said: ‘My, but you’re in such deep thought staring in that window!’

‘I was asking God to give me a pair of shoes,’ was the boy’s reply.

The lady took him by the hand, went into the store, and asked the clerk to get half a dozen pairs of socks for the boy. She then asked if he could give her a basin of water and a towel. He quickly brought them to her.

She took the little fellow to the back part of the store and, removing her gloves, knelt down, washed his little feet, and dried them with the towel.

By this time, the clerk had returned with the socks ... placing a pair upon the boy’s feet, she purchased him a pair of shoes.

She tied up the remaining pairs of socks and gave them to him. She patted him on the head and said: ‘No doubt, you will be more comfortable now.’

As she turned to go, the astonished kid caught her by the hand, and looking up into her face, with tears in his eyes, asked her: ‘Are you God’s wife?’

Not good!

Just before Christmas God was looking down at earth and saw all of the evil that was going on. He decided to send an angel down to Earth to check it out. So he called one of His best angels and sent the angel to Earth for a time. When she returned she told God, yes it is bad on earth, 95 per cent is bad and five per cent is good.

Well, he thought for a moment and said, maybe I had better send down a second angel to get another point of view. So God called another angel and sent her to Earth for a time too. When the angel returned she went to God and told him yes, the earth was in decline, 95 per cent was bad and five per cent was good.

God said this was not good. So He decided to email the five per cent that were good and He wanted to encourage them, give them a little something to help them keep going.

Do you know what that email said?

(Ah, so you didn’t get one either?)