The Queen is to sell her pedigree herd of Ayrshire cattle because of low milk prices.

The herd, which has grazed at Home Park on the Windsor Estate for 56 years, comprises 175 adult and 160 young stock.

Windsor Royal Farms confirmed that the herd was up for sale as “it was no longer a viable operation”. A spokesman said: “There have been significant losses over several years with milk prices failing to cover the high cost of production.”

Industry sources said that average prices were 19p a litre, and production costs at least 22p.

The Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh took the decision on the recommendation of their farm manager, Mark Osman. It is hoped that the herd will be sold as a unit.

The herd of Jerseys, which has supplied the Royal Family with milk since 1849, will remain. It is viable because the Jersey milk is used to produce clotted cream and ice-cream.

It is understood that the Queen is saddened to give up her Ayrshire herd, which was started by George VI in 1951. She is patron of the Ayrshire Cattle Society.

The Competition Commission is investigating the low prices paid to dairy farmers by supermarkets and processing companies. Dairy farmers said they hoped that Windsor Farms would pass their accounts to the commission to show how prices had failed to cover costs. Farmers have been reluctant to produce evidence for the inquiry fearing that they would lose contracts.

David Handley, chairman of Farmers For Action, said: “The Queen selling her Ayrshire cows also shows how difficult it is to make a profit when you have one of the top managed herds in the country selling to a so-called top milk processor.”

About 900 dairy farmers left the business last year. The farmer’s share of the supermarket price of a litre of milk has fallen from 24.5p a litre in 1995 to 19.1p in 2005. The number of dairy farmers has fallen by 40 per cent in the same period.

Dairy Crest, in a statement yesterday, confirmed that it had been buying milk from the Queen for many years. Arthur Reeves, milk buyer for the company, suggested that it might not be the price of milk that was causing the sale. “There are lots of farmers leaving the industry, and they have been doing so since the Second World War,” he said.

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