War, drought, staff shortages: why the price of milk has soared in the UK

Wholesale milk price hit all-time record in December, after months of farmers absorbing higher costs

On a misty February morning, a few dozen of Michael Oakes' herd of dairy cows are busy tucking into their food, inside one of the large sheds on his farm near Bromsgrove in Worcestershire.

They're worse than teenagers," laughs Oakes, of his 160-strong herd of mostly black and white Holstein Friesians, as well as 30 brown Jersey cows. All they do is sleep, eat and go to the toilet."