The advice came yesterday from the Royal Association of British Dairy Farmers (RABDF) after the cost of unpaid family labour on sheep and cattle farms was published recently by Quality Meat Scotland and the Meat and Livestock Commission.

The RABDF claimed to be ahead of the game with a 2005 survey which indicated that average unpaid family labour on dairy farms equated to more than 3.8p per litre.

Yesterday, association chairman Tim Brigstocke said again: "It is essential dairy farmers make sure their costings reflect the true costs of production, currently about 21p per litre."

Unpaid labour was an essential part of that. Without it, dairy farmers receiving 17p to 18p per litre might think they were breaking even or making a modest profit. A recent Dairy Event survey indicated that most dairy farmers struggled to quantify their costs, and that far too many significantly underestimated them.

Source: Business.Scotsman.com