Friday, March 29, 2024

Warnings and winning

Avatar photo
Warnings might be dire about the state of dairy farming in the United Kingdom at present. But among it all there are those producers who are finding opportunities, grabbing them and quietly getting on with it.
Reading Time: 4 minutes

Yes the figures are stark, with average production costs estimated at 30 pence per litre of milk while the farmgate price has fallen to less than 24p. This has quickened the trend that has seen almost two in three UK dairy farms shut-up shop in the past 20 years. Only about 13,000 businesses survive. Berkshire, which should have the advantage of close proximity to large areas of population, had a 31% drop in just the last year. But dairy cow numbers throughout the country have increased for the first time in the last decade because farmers have been encouraged to produce more milk.

Protests in August targeted supermarket chain Morrisons, which sells a four-pint bottle of milk for 89p. Its answer has been to put a £1.12 product, Morrisons Milk for Farmers, on its shelves, from which dairy farmers receive the extra 10p per litre.

Protest organisers say it’s a step in the right direction but that Morrisons’ use of milk as a loss leader is a moral issue. Consumers for their part seem to think that they will pay the extra to pass more money on to farmers although when they’re actually in the supermarket aisles, another emotion may take over altogether.

Three other UK supermarkets have followed Morrisons’ lead and agreed to pay farmers more. But cosy relationships between these highly competitive players can’t be expected to last for long.

Farmers blame past supermarket price wars for their present predicament but retailers argue it’s all to do with the international drop in commodity prices, now potentially under even more pressure with the recent Chinese devaluation of the yuan. Another factor is Russia’s blocking of European milk exports.

Whatever the cause, UK farmers are grimly holding their line with protest action having gained valuable publicity at the very least in a country where consumers seem to well recognise their predicament. But rather than giving the dairy industry the support that a few pence extra from every pint they buy contributes, some consumers are thoroughly enjoying bolstering farmers’ fortunes in other ways.

Just as subsidising farmers’ incomes didn’t work in this country in the 1970s and 1980s, paying more for products so a proportion goes back to the producer tends to leave a bad taste in both participants’ mouths. And that’s bound to increase over the length of time that particular regime is around.

By far the best plan is to have consumers pay extra for something they really want to buy. And that’s happening all over the UK, from up-market, ready prepared meals or components of them on sale in Marks and Spencer’s, catering to every imaginable taste, to enterprises drawing city dwellers into the countryside in their droves.

Near Firle, in East Sussex, Middle Farm has a prime position with thousands of cars whizzing by at all hours of the day and night. Many call in. And why wouldn’t they when there’s every reason to do so? 

There’s fresh produce grown onsite presented with all the care and nurturing of the proudest home gardener. Sheep, beef and poultry reared on the property keep the onsite butchery well stocked along with the deli and cheese counter. 

There’s an array of herbs and garden plants on sale outside along with point-of-lay pullets and the wooden coops to keep them in. 

As well there are products completely unrelated to this country environment that are made available to make sure no customer can complain their tastes haven’t been catered for. Think coffee, drinking chocolate and sweets in so many varieties you’d never be able to make up your mind no matter how long you gazed at the shelves in front of you.

Choice is also difficult when it comes to the array of beverages on sale, from ciders and perries to ginger beer, elderflower cordial and fruit brandies. 

Middle Farm offers a fruit-pressing service that enables interested home orchardists to bring in their surplus apples, pears or grapes to be turned into their fresh pure fruit juice with which they can fill their own bottles at a very reasonable cost. 

Those who make ciders and perries have them displayed around Middle Farm’s tasting room in black plastic casks which visitors are free to sample. All the information is given about the brew being sampled; the name of the orchardist, the variety of apple, the name (often both catchy and quirky) and any awards won (often a number). Shoppers can try then buy, or simply chose to sample this little taste of the countryside in a small plastic cup.

Middle Farm has also branched out into other activities such as a tent fair where buyers can come and purchase their favourite out of those pitched for their perusal.

But the product that most appealed to this wide-eyed observer was ice-cream, sold in small, single-serve tubs. Printed on the outside was a photo of the farmer supplying the milk and a calf from their herd along with how the mouthfuls of deliciousness inside are created. Across the bottom in large red print was typed: WARNING – this product exploits human weakness.

Consumers love it, it tastes great, it puts money in farmers’ and retailers’ pockets. It’s the best outcome all the way round, better by far than the negativity of protest action and division that can cause. 

If the shopper can be presented with something they simply can’t resist, moral arguments effortlessly slip to the back of their minds. And remain there long after the ice-cream has been eaten.

 

www.middlefarm.com

Total
0
Shares
People are also reading