The plight of dairy farmers has been widely publicised over the past 12 months.
However it is not just the men and women milking cows who are feeling the pain of a global crash in dairy commodity prices.
According to David Dobbin, the chairman of milk processor organisation Dairy UK, processors are suffering as well.
“The market is so bad that even processors are losing,” said Mr Dobbin, who heads up UK dairy farmers’ co-operative United Dairy Farmers.
“It’s not a UK problem. The problem is global and it’s the same everywhere.”
The impact of the crisis is clear to see in the latest set of accounts for Arla and First Milk.
Glasgow-headquartered First Milk posted pre-tax losses of £34.935million for the year ended March 31, while European farmers’ co-operative Arla posted pre-tax losses of £87.968million in the year ended December 31, 2014.
So what’s gone wrong?
Mr Dobbin says a significant increase in milk output globally, the removal of milk quotas in Europe and a drop in demand has caused a sharp fall in commodity prices.
“Global (dairy) production in 2014 grew by 3.3% against an average output of 2% over the past few years. While demand fell to about 1.7% growth. It only takes a swing of 2-3% in world production and that causes us to go from boom to bust, or bust to boom,” said Mr Dobbin.
He said although prices were stabilising and markets were beginning to recover there was a fear that production would grow again in spring 2016.
“In the short-term it’s still looking pretty dire. We need to watch that we don’t overproduce and we need to try and encourage more people to consume dairy,” added Mr Dobbin.
“The markets are probably not going to recover until well into 2016 and that would require European output to slow down.”
By creating more demand for dairy produce in the UK, the market would become more balanced, said Mr Dobbin.
“The industry needs to try and support local and national dairy produce, rather than imports. If everyone supported British produce, a log (of our milk) would go into these produces and we would get better prices.”
And it’s not just farmers and consumers than must do their bit to help the sector, Mr Dobbin is calling on government for more help.
“Government needs to do what it can to help stimulate exports and do what it can to promote dairy within its own houses,” he said.