Yesterday the newspapers were full of stories about how we’re now moving into the next phase of easing lockdown, and I have to wonder as we start to move towards ‘normal’ if the changes made during the pandemic will continue into the future? Almost straight away during lockdown we saw people adapt their shopping habits.…
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The Agriculture Bill was introduced to set out the way in which agriculture will be funded after leaving the EU, with the introduction of a new “public money for public goods” payment scheme putting the focus on animal welfare, the environment and sustainability. The Bill recently had its third reading in the House of…
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Today we’re launching a competition with Good Housekeeping. 5 prizes to be won! Savour the flavour and celebrate premium free-range dairy with an exclusive Pasture Promise selection from traditional British pasture-based dairy farms. We’re giving five winners the ultimate dairy feast to take you through from breakfast, to lunch and afternoon tea – washed down…
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The Irish Food Board, Bord Bia, have announced the introduction of a new ‘Grass-Fed’ Standard for Irish milk, which requires cows to be fed a minimum of 90% grass. It sounds like there is little room for anything else in the diet of these cows, but just how much grass does 90% grass-fed really mean?…
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When I started In Conversation With, I never imagined how the world could change from one post to the next. Only 6 weeks ago farmers were seen as pariah’s in the media but this pandemic has shown they are essential workers working hard to keep the nation fed. I hope this new respect for our…
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Reports of dairy farmers having to dump unwanted milk, whilst people struggle to find enough milk on supermarket shelves, have understandably caused confusion and anger amongst consumers. We now have an oversupply of milk from farms, as milk processors struggle to switch milk away from coffee shops and food service outlets that have been closed,…
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It’s such a simple thing for most of us to open the door, step out into the sunshine and go wherever we please. So it’s no surprise perhaps that many are already starting to feel trapped, as restrictions on our movements are imposed to halt the spread of this ruthless Coronavirus pandemic. There are now…
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We recently commissioned Censuswide UK to carry out a survey on our behalf, to examine changes in consumer attitudes to food supplies, in the wake of the Coronavirus pandemic. The survey of 1,000 people asked them about the difficulties they have recently encountered in finding milk and dairy products and find out how many have…
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Welcome to In Conversation With… and this month it’s great to talk with Vicki Hird. Vicki is an award winning author, strategist and senior manager who has been working on environment, food and farming issues for over 25 years. With Vicki, I want to talk about Food and Farming and issues such as Brexit, food…
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It seems one of the success stories of this year’s Veganuary is that 1 million vegan burgers were sold in KFC, but is that really a success story? In many ways this represents the problem with the food industry. There is a drive by certain agents to ditch nutrient rich meat and dairy from pasture…
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So heated has debate and opinion about climate change become, I am beginning to wonder if it may soon generate more hot air than all the world’s cars, planes and livestock put together. Tonnes of carbon dioxide are being exhaled every day, in the vehement condemnation of ruminant livestock and calls for an end to…
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My passion is food and farming, which is how a person who doesn’t come from a farming background ended up starting Free Range Dairy Network with fellow Director Neil Darwent. To me, food and farming touches on every part of life. How we survive, how the planet survives, animal welfare, our culture, social justice and…
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My passion is food and farming, which is how a person who doesn’t come from a farming background ended up starting Free Range Dairy Network with fellow Director Neil Darwent. To me, food and farming touches on every part of life. How we survive, how the planet survives, animal welfare, our culture, social justice, access…
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Earlier this week Sir David Attenborough warned in BBC News interview that “The moment of crisis has come”. According to the BBC Sir David was highlighting that whilst climate scientists are calling for a rapid response to climate change, international negotiations are slow to deliver any real plans for action. I begin to think we…
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It was the opening day of the Oxford Farming Conference yesterday and I was there for one of the first sessions called ‘Diversity, inclusion and combating polarisation.’ It was talking about how sexism, racism and homophobia makes part of our communities feel they can’t be part of farming, and what new and innovative ways of…
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Despite a plethora of aids to modern life, it seems we are all busier than ever these days. We become so preoccupied with what we have to do that we don’t take enough time to think about why we are doing it. But, taking a little time to think about why we do what we…
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Christmas time is always a great time to share a Christmas message from our farmers. As we go from 2019 into a new decade, Jenni Hobbs, looks back over the years Another year – and 2019 didn’t disappoint. Here in the Gloucestershire Severn vales the cows have continued to enjoy fresh, grazed grass but…
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It’s been another good year for Free Range Dairy Network; sales of Pasture Promise free range milk continue to grow and we have welcomed new farmers to the fold. But, milk (and meat) has taken a real bashing in 2019 and many farmers have been left wondering why they are being blamed for everything that’s wrong…
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A DERFA survey back in 2013 found that the average age of farmers in the UK was 59, at that time. No doubt that age has crept up a bit since then. But dairy farming is changing and a new generation of young farmers, are bringing new ideas, mixing tradition with new technology and connecting…
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The Independent newspaper did a roundup of all the manifestos of political parties, rating them on their commitment to animal welfare. For the first time, climate and nature were also on the agenda as Party Leaders recognised these issues as vote winners. The general public in the UK are saying the environment is one of…
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