Dairy continues to be a cornerstone of British diets

Acolder week last week with widespread frost and some snow in places. Nothing compared to the bitterly cold weather across North America, Europe and Asia, but more like winter here despite a sudden rise in temperatures at the weekend. In Australia the brutal heatwave continues as record night temperatures were set at 35.9C in Noona, New South Wales. The temperature record for an Australian city was broken as Adelaide hit 46.6C with temperatures at Port Augusta a few miles north hitting 49.5C.

As many other towns smashed their own heat records, Australians did not let this pass without taking advantage with some residents frying eggs in pans placed on the incredibly hot bonnets of their cars.

Camels and wild horses are dying in the vast Gibson Desert and around Alice Springs, showing how bad the situation is and hundreds of people have been treated in South Australia, some receiving emergency medical treatment for heat related illnesses with many being taken to hospital.

Gwenan is getting her small flock of sheep crutched (removing the wool around the back end) this week in preparation for lambing. It keeps everything clean and makes it so much easier for a new born lamb to suckle rather than risk getting a mouthful of dirty wool in its mouth with each attempt. They are in at night and out grazing by day to get them used to the routine and to give them some extra food and hay which helps to keep the dung firm for cleanliness.

The Farmers Guardian has conducted a survey of more than 2,000 people showing that the love for dairy foods is undiminished despite the irritating vegans who claim otherwise.

The special report shows that the public by and large back British dairy farming and are not put off by the negative messages and that dairy continues to be a cornerstone of British diets.

However, that does not mean that we can be complacent.

Far from it, when one looks into the detail of those changing their diets and buying alternatives, the reason is more choice on offer and more worryingly, concern over health and welfare of the animals and effect on the environment. As taste continues to evolve among our younger consumers, dairy farming will need to keep adapting, it will need to lift standards and take their concerns seriously.

The messages we have regarding the goodness of dairy foods and their excellent taste are robust and no diet should be deficient in dairy for a healthy life. However, just as Michael Gove has focussed on environment and welfare, this is where continual improvement is expected and must be delivered without fail. The best operators do a fantastic job and most can reach similar standards without too much expenditure providing the effort is put in.

However, for those who are struggling financially, those who cut corners and those who do not have the required dedication and interest in this area, the writing is on the wall.

Things must change and every effort must be made to improve radically and quickly. There are people who can help, the levy bodies, the farming unions, the vets and so on.

We will all try and help anyone who is serious about lifting standards on farm, but the industry is now far less tolerant of those who are in danger of bringing it into disrepute.

With shortages of forage this winter, late cuts of silage (a dairy farmer was making silage in Wales last week), very old silages in clamps which have been carried over from previous years (especially maize silage); there are problems. Veterinary surgeons are reporting an increase in displaced abomasum in dairy cows; they are seeing rare things such as ergotism in cattle, bracken poisoning and both hemlock and dropwort poisoning.

The dry spell has meant that farmers are short of fodder, old stocks are being used and animals are out grazing as we enjoy mild weather conditions. On the forage side I hear that most farmers are probably going to see the next two months out but if we have a late spring we are in big trouble. I saw a dairy herd out grazing last week and there are several spring calving herds out grazing, taking full advantage of the grass available.

Lack of labour is making things more difficult on dairy farms and we see more robotic milking units installed up and down the country. This is fine where the standards are high, with good farming practice and decent buildings, but where robots are seen as replacement for labour on a farm where things are not so good, it is likely to end in tears. Robotic units work well with high standards but if things are not great and the attention to detail is not there they will likely make things worse, a lot worse.

As chairman of RUMA (Responsible Use of Medicines in Agriculture Alliance) I was forced to issue a press release last Friday as a result of an irritatingly poorly worded press release from Government as it introduced the new report ‘Tackling AMR (Antimicrobial Resistance) 2019-2024’; it’s National Action Plan. The report itself of course is fine and welcomed by RUMA, but the press release made it sound as if government was imposing targets on the farming industry.

The truth is of course that RUMA and the farming industry set its own targets for each sector of farming to be met by 2020 and we are well on the way to achieving those targets. We have to date reduced antibiotic use in farming by 40 per cent which compared favourably with human health reduction of seven per cent, and by 2020 we will have reduced further. The media reported it as if government was imposing targets over the next two years where as the voluntary initiative is very much alive and well.

The farming industry has risen to this challenge very well and in order to have such reductions we have seen standards rise, new techniques introduced and the veterinary profession rise to the challenge which has not been easy. They are changing their business model away from dispensing medicines to selling advice and prosper from health in the future rather than making their living from illness and disease.

I see Sir James Dyson one of the leading business Brexiteers is moving his business to Singapore. He denies that this makes him a hypocrite, but it does not look good does it? According to Business Minister Claire Perry, the move is prompted by the need to maintain access to EU markets through the bloc’s trade deal with Singapore. The timing is certainly bad.

Singapore is of course now in competition with Paris and other EU cities as they vie for British business to relocate and not fall foul of the dangers of Brexit on trade. I am afraid there will be many more and while we dream of this great trade opportunity post Brexit, real damage is now being done.

I thought this country is going to be the new Singapore? I rather like it the way it is.