More ramblings from the USA

One of the most interesting things on my visit to the USA was having a look round some of the biggest and best examples of Pennsylvanian agriculture. One fascinating visit was to Mason Dixon Farms, a large dairy herd of 4000 cows. This was very much a family farm, but on a huge scale. The problems for US dairy farmers are the same as in Devon, with falling milk price and volatility of inputs making an industry that no longer can support a secure income. To overcome this Mason Dixon farms had slashed the costs of production and were producing milk at around half the cost of average US dairies. The impressive scale of how they did this was amazing. On arriving we were welcomed into the farm cinema to see a movie of the Dick Wainwright story of success, the key we were told was innovation and adaptability. In summary that innovation was ‘to be big,’ big tractors, mowers, fields and livestock numbers. We were looking at equipment that you would struggle to move down the A30 let alone down some of our Devon farm lanes. We were then given a tour of the farm which meant that we were driven by coach through the cattle housing! Here the cows were kept in groups of 150 cows, in cubicles and milked by robots. They had very little handling by humans which apparently suits the cows better. Welfare was proved to be excellent, with a vet employed on site. The average number of lactations per cow was 3 which I believe was the national average. All the feed was grown by the farm and mainly based round a maize diet and an anaerobic digester provided the electricity to run the farm and export some to the national grid. So a pretty impressive system, but I, along with most of the British definitely did not feel comfortable with that system. The cows never went outside, they were tail docked, the cubicles were smaller than allowed in the UK and the sheer scale just seemed to be the wrong way to produce milk.

Of course this is now being debated in the UK with the plans for the super dairy in Lincolnshire causing a lot of divided opinion. Here in the South West we are good at producing grass and milk. Although many dairy farms have been sold up, there are still some successful businesses that have adapted and innovated. But their way of cutting the costs of production is by utilising what we have got and maximising the milk from grass. Sometimes this is organically but normally this is using organic principles combined with more conventional methods. Often these farms are 150 to 200 cow herds employing 3 or 4 people and being a positive part of the local community. As a consumer I want to be paying enough to ensure that my milk is coming from cows that go outside and I think that is what the debate has to be about, if consumers want a food produced in a certain way they have to be prepared to pay for it. It will be interesting to see how debate progresses!

If anybody recognises this post then you're right, it was first published in Drewsteington Parish post titled View from The Farm. But it was me that wrote that, so now the worst kept secret is out and you all know who I am!