Dairy Farmer Articles

The recent sensational and shocking Daily Mail article and film footage of the treatment of new born calves at Derek Whittalls, Oakland Livestock Centre, was jaw dropping and indefensible, particularly when one of those videoed was his own son! I have never seen anyone punch, kick or hurl young calves like this, and I never want to see it again. It’s the ammunition and oxygen the activists and anti-dairy organisations thrive on in a bid to get people to ditch dairy and portray dairy farming as a big animal welfare and ethical problem, whereas my vision is our welfare standards should be part of the solution.

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The run up to the spring flush is now fully in train and spot milk prices have dipped below 25ppl, delivered. At farmgate level only a handful of brokers and middle ground liquid processors have dropped their milk price in 2021, with others holding or increasing prices - in particular all cheese processors, First Milk, Muller and Arla whose farmgate milk prices have been held up primarily by a relatively high cream values.

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The eye watering cost of the dreadful Covid pandemic will have to be paid for, and will be a liability many of us will leave behind for future generations. There are rumblings that the previous DEFRA/Government pledge to maintain UK agriculture funding at the same level as paid out under BPS in 2020 (c. £3.5 billion a year until 2027) is likely to take a hair cut in order to pay for Covid.

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It’s only two days since my January article landed on farm, and already there are umpteen interesting and jaw dropping comments on Red Tractor and its assessors for this article. At processor level several set out to achieve Red Tractor’s minimal standards at farm level, in fact a few are guilty of defending low farmer standards! Others, for example Arla, Muller and First Milk, have decided that Red Tractor standards are a low base line, and have introduced their own standards in a bid to uphold and protect the industry’s reputation.

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Last month’s article resulted in 37 email responses and regrettably, the majority (36!) were decidedly negative as to Red Tractor’s current performance, and commented that my last article was close to a bullseye. Indeed, one who had significant experience in milk processing and marketing - as well as arable and dairy farming - stated that “I have experienced the Red Tractor Scheme from both sides of the fence and it’s not fit for purpose”.

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It goes from bad to worse for Red Tractor doesn’t it! It recently experienced a PR clangor when Baroness Neville-Rolfe, the chairwoman of Assured Food Standards (which owns the Red Tractor brand), voted WITH the Government Bill on food standards, thus voting NOT to ban imports produced to lower standards than those of the UK. Talk about shooting yourself in both feet!  This was in contrast to the principles adopted by the Tory chairman of the EFRA Committee and Tiverton and Honiton MP, Neil Parish.

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Although some readers will no doubt be convinced that the gospel according to the NFU’s on DEFRA’s milk contract reform is one of the biggest challenges/issues facing the industry, you won’t be surprised to learn I continue to disagree. In fact, my position is that a maximum of five GB processors/milk brokers operate unfairly / dubiously, and they should be dealt with individually.

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As I pen this article the Government’s milk contract consultation has just closed. The Farming Unions, as the main promotor for contract reform for over a decade, detailed five “asks to Government”, which, for me, seemed more based on emotion rather than hard fact (unless the facts are within their submission). But the processor’s organisation Dairy UK’s response has clearly been a factually orientated submission, being supported by an independent overview report into the UK Dairy Market by the globally recognised consulting firm Ernst & Young (EY).

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Dairy farmers are currently being encouraged to respond to DEFRA’s milk contract consultation which seeks “to end unfair practices across the UK’s dairy sector”. The submission deadline is 15th September. The NFU and NFUS have been pushing for contract reform since 2011 and are the UK dairy Industry’s equivalent of religious zealots on the subject. The voluntary code was an attempt to improve the balance, however it has seen few milk purchasers stick to its commitments, particularly when it comes to farmgate milk price changes.

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Earlier this year, I described Sainsbury’s reputation with its aligned producers as continuing to slide downhill, particularly for those who have faced the impact of the Tomlinson’s collapse. Well Sainsburys (SDDG) aligned farmers are once again furious at how the retail giant “is walking all over us to the point we feel like contract milkers and may as well hand over control of our farm to Sainsbury’s”.

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Last month’s article, with one memorable exception, was easily the most positively commented article in almost 30 years of writing this column. So thank you to all who took the time to respond. Most of the comments were identical in tone, and along similar lines to these three:  “Most of us have been treated like sh!t over recent months, and we’re sick to the back teeth with it.

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Last month’s scaremongering suggesting the UK dairy industry was heading for Armageddon was dismissed by all but a minority of dairy farmers. There are tough times, for some, admittedly, but no Armageddon. However, the English and Welsh Governments have been persuaded to launch dairy farmer hardship funds of up to £10,000, which was greeted by some farmers as disappointing, embarrassing and ill-conceived.

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