A DAIRY farm has doubled in size as a farmer tries to battle back against the global milk crisis.

Philip Smith, of Wigboro Wick Farm, in St Osyth, doubled its capacity with a new milking machine that cost £750,000.

However, before the family business could see the benefits of the expansion, the price of milk plummeted again.

Mr Smith said: “The expansion is 90 per cent completed. We have doubled in size. It had not been easy for the past ten years but, more recently, things were looking a lot better, until now.”

A ban on Russian food imports from the EU and a reduced demand from China means there is a lot more milk to sell than buyers to drink it.

Supermarkets know this and also know dairy cows have to be milked, so offer rock bottom prices, often less than it costs to produce the milk.

This leaves farmers with the choice of getting nothing for the product, or at least some money back.

Mr Smith said: “The price has gone down. This machine will make us more efficient, but I feel very sorry for some who won’t survive. Supermarkets are selling it cheaper than they sell water.

"The cows are inmilk and you can’t turn off the tap, so we have to sell at the best price we can get, but have no real control over the cost of the product.”

Mr Smith hopes the investment will pay off over the years, but believes more needs to be done to help dairy farmers.

The Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee has called for new regulations to support farmers by extending the powers and remit of a grocery watchdog.