“Those cows in the shed outside, I have known them since they were born,” says Mike Gorton, 58, who has farmed all his life at Harebarrow Farm. His 70 cows and 100 acres of pasture sit on a sandstone ridge just outside Macclesfield, with long views to the Pennines.

“But views don’t pay the bills,” he says. The crash in milk prices and the payment deferrals from the First Milk co-operative, of which he is a founder member, have created the most dangerous time Gorton can remember. “There will be a time when I say the cows have got to go. For the first time in my working life, that is a real consideration.”

Gorton’s herd produces 500,000 litres of milk a year. “First Milk take every drop I produce,” he says. “At least with a co-op, you have a guaranteed outlet. It will be collected.” It would be very hard to find another buyer now, he adds.

“At first I was really bothered. I wondered if [First Milk’s] deferral of the payment was the first sign of the whole thing going down the pan,” Gorton says. “But I hope this will put it back on track. If First Milk goes, that is my business gone overnight.”

The next few months will be critical, as the lush spring grass pushes milk production to its annual peak in May – and the lowest prices. “Inevitably the price will rise, but the question is whether the farms can survive until then, Gorton says. He is losing money on every litre that leaves his farm. “From 1 February, I’ll get just under 20p a litre. The cost of producing it – without taking out any money for the business – is 24.5p.”

The cause of the milk price crash is, Gorton says, perfect milk-producing weather around the globe in the last year, which has produced a glut. “There have been the perfect conditions and there have been no droughts, no catastrophes [denting production]. That has not been seen in my memory,” he says. “In the UK, we had perfect grass-growing conditions, with just the right amount of rain and the right amount of sunshine. If we’re looking for a blueprint for perfect conditions, 2014 was it.”

Price wars between supermarkets, who often use milk as a loss leader, is also a factor, Gorton says: “It’s not helping. I work 14 hours a day to produce a good quality product for supermarkets to play games with. But why should it be with milk?”

A rare bright spot has been the strength of the local community, he says: “The feed company, the bank, they have all been very understanding so far. We are all part of the wider rural economy and so we all need each other to keep going. It’s amazing how people can pull together in a crisis.”

Gorton says his own father never pressured him to follow him into farming, and he would not do that to his own children either. But if they did, he says, “I am not sure at the moment I’d be happy for them”.