Sometimes you have to go abroad to appreciate what you have in your home. When dairy farmers and their advisors plan ‘Busman’s vacations’, it is usually to New Zealand, the US, Holland or Denmark, but just 45 miles into the Irish Sea lies a hidden gem.
A two-hour ferry crossing from Belfast to Cairnrin/Strander brings you to Dumfries, Scotland, where you are greeted by large tracts of meadows with spectacular views of Loch Ryan.
Dumfries, a town with a population of 33,000, is home to Crichton Royal Farms, the center of dairy research for the Scottish Rural College (SRUC) – essentially the Scottish version of Teagasque.
I was on a UK Nuffield dairy tour, and I took part in a date that goes to the heart of UK dairy: the confinement, high-production system versus the grass-based, low-input system.
This argument ran in the Republic of Ireland 20 years ago.
We decided to go with a grass-based, low-input system, but in the UK they are still delayed.
There are three main reasons for this indecision:
Privatization of State Agricultural Advisory/Research
In the late 1980s, Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher was investigating the costs and benefits of state institutions.
The Agricultural Development Advisory Service (ADAS) was the organization within the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (MAFF) that conducted agricultural research and advisory.
Thatcher’s attitude was to privatize any successful part of ADAS and close the rest. He declared: “This government was not elected to grow flowers.”
ADAS was finally privatized in 1997. This lack of independent advice and research has left British dairy farmers at the mercy of the market for 25 years and more when making decisions about their farms.
Some have survived and prospered; Many have not.
private milk processing model
The most important question to ask a British dairy farmer is who buys your milk, and what are the terms and conditions of the milk supply contract?
This may have determined the existence of a British dairy farm. With a human population of 68 million and just 7,880 dairy farmers, nine milk processors collect more than 70 percent of the milk.
This has resulted in many variations in the types and terms of milk supply contracts signed by individual dairy farmers.
In the past, some processors have failed and left dairy farmers without ‘milk checks’ and even not collecting milk, which is unheard of in Ireland.
The British dairy farmer is much closer and closer to the vagaries of dairy markets.
Conversely, many Irish farmers accept that the processing and marketing of milk is someone else’s problem.
This is because most of the milk processing in the UK is privately owned, whereas most of the milk processing in Ireland is in a cooperative structure owned by farmers in Ireland.
rich farmer
Traditionally, British dairy farm businesses are larger and affluent than their Irish counterparts. More land and non-farm interests/assets have created a stronger balance sheet.
This has saved some UK dairy farmers from wrong investment decisions and enabled them to change direction or face a crisis that is better than Irish farmers have been in years.
lessons to take on board
Despite the lack of national direction through advice and research over the past 25 years, many British dairy farmers are thriving.
Many farmers have traveled the world looking for advice and research on how to make their businesses more profitable and sustainable.
Prison farmers look to the US for direction, while grass-fed farmers look to Moorpark in Ireland.
The message is that good dairy farmers will always find a way.
We have a thriving dairy industry here in Ireland, with a clear focus on agriculture, processing, retail and government. But we cannot rest on our laurels.
The remaining 7,880 UK dairy farmers have reached this juncture by surviving the fittest in a difficult, less protected market environment.
They have similar climate benefits for Irish dairy farmers, but have the added benefits of land availability, larger farm size, and a huge domestic market at the door.
There are certainly more opportunities for new entrants to lease or partner on dairy farms of viable size to provide substantial income for all parties.
There are also many opportunities for those aspiring to own/manage multiple dairy units. We saw examples of both in Dumfries.
It is clear from my visit to UK Dairy that we need to quickly acknowledge and implement our plan for the next 20 years of the Irish dairy industry.
UK dairy farmers and processors have the ability to lead us on all fronts as long as we use our integrated team industry approach to innovate and implement this plan.
Just because it worked before doesn’t mean it will work again.
Mike Brady is the Managing Director of the Brady Group Agricultural Advisors and Land Agents.
