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…
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…
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…
Please take a look at the short video of cows going out to grass on our farm this spring. We don’t often have the opportunity to get in front of the public and explain how we manage our cows. Short films such as this can help to convey simple messages about what we do and…
In the past few weeks the major milk buyers in the UK – Dairy Crest, Wisemans, Arla, Milk Link and First Milk have all announced a significant cut in the price they will pay British Dairy farmers for their milk, leading to renewed calls for a fairer deal for farmers. It seems that our hopes…
DairyCo’s Farmer Intentions Survey for 2012 shows British dairy farmers giving a vote of confidence for the medium to long term outlook for both the industry and their own farm businesses. 36% of farmers in Britain said they intend to expand milk production over the next two years, whilst the number intending to leave the…
After having let our cows out to graze exactly a month ago, we have had to bring some of them back indoors today. In an attempt to address the impending drought, Mother Nature has decided to send rain by the bucket full and our heavy clay soils are struggling to drain themselves between the storms.…
DairyCo’s Chris Duller says make the most of early season grass or risk losing it. We have one of those wet farms where we can see grass in the fields but the ground just won’t carry the cows yet. I have no fixed idea about when we turn the cows out here and I will…
The Agricultural & Horticultural Development Board (AHDB), in association with FACE (Farming and Countryside Education), recently commissioned research into current perceptions of children aged 7-15 on food, farming and the countryside, which has been used in the development of the AHDB Education Strategy 2012-17. The report produced by CHILDWISE in the summer of 2011, provides…
I attended a very interesting meeting at Kinston Maurward College today, which was all about out-wintering cattle. The meeting was run by the Institute of Biological, Environmental and Rural Sciences (IBERS), based at The University of Aberystwyth. There were two excellent farmer presentations from Clyde Jones and Chris Barnes, who shared their experiences of out-wintering…
I attended the Pasture to Profit Conference held near Worcester last November. It was a really stimulating gathering, even though I don’t run a spring calving herd along the lines of a New Zealand style system. Several of the speakers highlighted the potential to produce milk form grass and there are lessons we can all…
Promoting our farming and our milk is essential if we are to win the support of UK consumers. LEAF have been running Open Farm Sunday for the last seven years and it provides a fantastic opportunity to instil value in our farms and our cows. This year Open Farm Sunday takes place on June 17th.…
We might be in the middle of winter right now but those longer, warmer days will return. Free Range Dairy plans to promote a number of event and activities that will engage consumers with our farms and cows in 2012. Take a look at this video, filmed in Holland. People there are given the opportunity…
Dear All Just to say I received another 39 printed survey FRD returns today, taking us to around 300 in total. It is really rewarding to find the odd hand written note stapled to survey forms actually saying “thank you – I think what you are doing is great”. HAPPY CHRISTMAS and thank again to…
One or two people have asked me how I plan to get milk from Free Range Dairy farms collected, processed and distributed. But, it is important to understand that, in the first instance, Free Range Dairy is a movement rather than a brand. I want farmers to join this movement because they believe that pasture-based…
I was interested to read in a recent edition of International Dairy Topics (Practical information for progressive dairy professionals) that modern day dairy cows are failing to provide milk of a suitable quality for feeding their offspring. According to Neil Birkett of Rosebeck Services, “The excess fat in cow’s milk is difficult to digest and…
The other day, the 9th of November, we brought the last of milking herd indoors for the winter. After nearly eight months of grazing, it wasn’t a lack of grass or freezing temperatures that made our herd head indoors, it has simply got too wet for the ground to carry them. Those lazy hazy days…