More than 550 dairy farms have closed this year and production has fallen by 10 per cent GIDEON MENDEL/GETTY IMAGESThe price of British cheese is expected to rise early next year because of a milk shortage. More than 550 dairy farms have closed since 2014 and production has fallen by 10 per cent. An oversupply of milk led processors to pay farmers low prices and many of them responded by culling their herds. The wholesale price of milk has risen in recent months, but dairy farmers say that processors are continuing to pay them below the cost of production. Sian Davies, the NFU’s dairy adviser, dismissed fears of a cream shortage at Christmas, but she said that there could be a cheese crisis in three to four months, the…

Source: The Times November 14, 2016 00:02 UTC