Turnout time

Here we are in the depths of winter at a time when days are short and nights are long. The grass is hardly growing right now and much of what there is lies under water. So it’s hard to think about the time when spring will come and we will be turning our cows out…

Proud to be Free

I now have Free Range Dairy farm signs available for anyone who wants to declare their commitment to grazing their cows. The signs incorporate the Free Range Dairy logo, our Pasture Promise logo and a simple line saying “Cows graze on our farm”. The cost of the signs is £15.00 each. However, for those that…

The Dairy Fund

  Have you heard about the Rural Development Programme for England (RDPE) Dairy Fund? In July 2012, the Prime Minister announced that £5m would be made available to the dairy sector under the RDPE to help dairy producers increase their competitiveness and achieve added value to boost their market returns. The aims of the fund…

Another feel good movie

Not to be outdone by the Danes (Arla), Dutch dairy company Friesland Campina have released a video about milk. It has a very modern feel and shows cows quietly grazing under the stars as urban society rushes to and fro. The film again demonstrates the power of images of cows grazing grass. I know Friesland…

Free range in Scotland

Tomorrow I am heading north to Scotland to talk to farmers about Free Range Dairy. Despite the perceived challenges to grazing cows in the northern reaches of the UK, there has been quite a lot of interest in my initiative from ‘north of the border’. I have always maintained that a farmer who grazes his…

Eating responsibly

I have just had the unenviable task of putting down (shooting) a six month old calf on the farm. The animal in question has been suffering from a respiratory infection for a number of weeks and was obviously in great discomfort, despite our attempts to nurse it back to health. This is a task which…

European Antibiotics Awareness Day

Resistance to antibiotics is one of the greatest threats to modern health experts say. The Health Protection Agency warns that some bugs such as E Coli and Gonorrhoea have developed resistant strains, following the unnecessary use of antibiotics to tackle mild infections. This Sunday (November 18th) is European Antibiotics Awareness Day, which hopes to raise…

Rip Off Food

  The first of a new series on BBC 1, called Rip Off Food, was shown at 9.15 this morning. You can find a link to this programme here (opens in a new window). The programme, presented by Gloria Hunniford, revealed how food companies and supermarkets mislead consumers with the labelling they use on food. This…

Pasture Promise online

You can now make the Pasture Promise online. Just follow the link on the home page or click here. All you need to do is provide your name, address and contact details. We are getting more farmers signing up every day and we are well on the way to establishing a network of like minded…

A wider view

I am really grateful for all the feedback I get on the Free Range Dairy initiative and welcome anyone to submit stories about their own experiences of farming and related matters. Below is a really interesting post from John Lawson who, although no longer farming, finds that his current business faces similar challenges to dairy…

Put grass in your glass!

  I hear that Mary Berry, writer of cookery books and Great British Bake Off judge, has a new series on BBC2 called The Great British Food Revival and one episode is all about ice cream. Mary has labeled many ice creams as being almost 99 percent “synthetic junk”. Apparently it only has to contain…