Thanks to all those who came along to the recent farmer meetings and others who have emailed me with suggestions on how we take Free Range Dairy forward. It is evident that there is considerable interest in milk and dairy products from pasture-based herds, both from consumers and farmers. So, now it’s time to let…
Somerset company, Wyke Farms, are proud of their 150 year heritage and have now become the largest independent cheese makers and milk processors in the UK, sourcing around 120 million litres of milk a year from their own farms and the surrounding area. However, as with most large dairy companies, they are relatively small in…
Doorstep customers of Pensworth Dairies, in the village where I live, this morning received a note from Sales Director Gideon Bishop informing them that it was necessary to increase the price of their milk by 3 pence a pint. Mr Bishop explained that whilst he acknowledged that “no increases are welcome in the current economic…
Vladimir Lenin Coincidence is a curious thing. My mother was showing a few family heirlooms to my wife yesterday and stumbled across a fascinating document produced by the NFU in 1924. This was the year that Lenin died and was buried in Moscow’s Red Square, the 8th Olympic Games were held in Paris, Ramsey MacDonald…
Journalist and writer Graham Harvey has long been a passionate advocate of pasture based milk and meat production and he has a wealth of knowledge on the subject. If you haven’t had a look already, Graham has two websites that are well worth a visit; www.grahamsquest.co.uk and www.pasturepromise.tv I was interested to read about a…
This week celebrity chefs Jamie Oliver and Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall sent a letter to The Times in support of British Dairy Farmers. “Milk is a brilliant food but we have lost sight of its value” said the two high profile foodies and they are absolutely right. The crisis dairy farmers are facing today is as a…
What will save UK dairy farmers? A supermarket ombudsman, greater transparency in milk supply contracts, the formation of producer organisations, or the dumping of milk to withdraw supplies? Perhaps a combination of all four will go some way to restoring some sense of fairness and balance in the milk supply chain. But, we must…
I don’t think anyone anticipated the strength of feeling surrounding recent milk price cuts that was demonstrated by around 3,000 dairy farmers who made the trip to London Dairy Summit last week – least of all Minister of State for Agriculture and Food, Mr Jim Paice MP. There were many who attended last Wednesday…
There was a good turnout for the latest Free Range Dairy meeting kindly hosted by Tom Malleson at his farm near Gillingham inDorset. Visitors had the chance to see how Tom was managing his grazing under the difficult conditions that this summer has presented and Andrew Cook from British Seed Houses was on hand to…
The National Farmers Union (NFU) have organised a meeting in London today (11th July) to discuss the recent milk price cuts, which threaten the future of many UK dairy farms. It is anticipated that over 1,000 farmers will attend and that they will demand a fair price for the milk they produce. It’s not easy…
Tom Malleson is kindly hosting the next Free Range Dairy meeting on Thursday12th July. The meeting will take place at Feltham Farm, Silton, Gillingham,Dorset SP8 5JB, starting at 10.30am. Anyone interested in helping to take Free Range Dairy forward, or just finding out more about our objectives, are welcome. Free Range Dairy is not just…
In a week that has left dairy farmers feeling that their milk is worthless, my mood was not helped by this summer offer in Sainsburys. It seems that cream is so cheap that it is now being given away by retailers, in an attempt to bolster strawberry sales. Despite high hopes for British tennis, the…
Another of the major milk buyers in the UK, has today announced that it will be following Wisemans and Dairy Crest in reducing the price it pays to farmers. Arla is cutting its price by 2.0 pence a litre from August 1st. This tops the 1.70 and 1.65 pence cuts announced by their competitors…
For many, the images of dancing Jersey cows from the Anchor Butter adverts will perhaps best convey the image of free range cows. An increasing number of UK milk producers have been switching towards a ‘New Zealand style’ dairy farming system, because it is all about low cost milk production. For decades New Zealand dairy…
We had a really interesting Free Range Dairy meeting up in Lancashire last week, courtesy of John Carr at Cleveley House Farm near Garstang. I hadn’t realised what a great grass growing county Lancashire is. Thank you all for your enthusiasm! A diverse group of people attended the meeting and, once again, we had some…
Was it you? Did you go into your local supermarket and demand cheap milk? No. Well, who was it then? Who said it was okay for retailers and processors to pay dairy farmers less for their milk than it actually cost to produce? You see the supermarkets tell us that they only stock what the…
According to the news agency Reuters – The House of Representatives dealt a blow to childhood obesity warriors in the USA on Thursday, by passing a bill that abandons proposals to end the reign of pizza and French fries on federally funded school lunch menus. Did you know that pizzas are classed as a vegetable…
I heard an interview on Radio 4’s Farming Today programme last week, in which a global investment expert stated that small dairy farms have no future in theUK. Detlef Scon from Aquila Capital Green Assets explained “If you want to preserve a structure in a small, family farm-type structure in the UK, and there’s…
Thanks to all those who came along to the meeting in Narberth last week. It was really helpful to get some input from fellow farmers on how Free Range Dairy should be defined and thoughts on the way forward. It was clear to see that grass and grazing play an important role on Welsh dairy…
Defining Free Range Dairy and Building a Brand Wales: 20 June at 7.30pm Nant-Y-Ffin Hotel & Motel, Llandissilio,Clynderwen, Pembrokeshire, SA66 7SU Please download our flyer for this meeting and give it to your farming friends. Guest speaker Gareth Davies, who is just embarking on a Nuffield Farming Scholarship, will explain why he is an advocate of…