The Prince of Wales convenes business leaders to support dairy farmers

HRH The Prince of Wales has thanked senior business leaders from some of the UK’s largest dairy companies for their support of vulnerable dairy farmers, as he announced the expansion of a pilot scheme offering business support and advice to struggling farmers.

HRH The Prince of Wales has thanked senior business leaders from some of the UK’s largest dairy companies for their support of vulnerable dairy farmers, as he announced the expansion of a pilot scheme offering business support and advice to struggling farmers.

Dairy farmers are particularly vulnerable to the challenges facing the British agricultural sector with on average 9 dairy farmers going out of business each week*. A combination of high costs, price volatility, and a shortage of new talent all reduce profitability and prevent farmers from building sustainable businesses.

The Prince’s Dairy Initiative, delivered in partnership by charity Business in the Community and sector body DairyCo, addresses these challenges by targeting farmers who are at risk of leaving the sector and providing dedicated business support.

Since last year, the pilot programme has supported 74 farmers across the UK through business-led workshops to boost the efficiency and viability of their businesses. All participating farmers are still trading and are now doing things differently on their farms to boost the efficiency and viability of their business. Following the success of the pilot, the scheme aims to support 300 farmers over the next 3 years.

One of the pilot participants, Nigel Boyd, who runs a 118 cow family dairy farm in Dumfries, commented on the challenges facing farmers, and the benefits of The Prince’s Dairy Initiative. “We’re doing all we can to scrape a living, given the debt we’ve taken on to invest in our business. Through the Initiative I have gained practical knowledge to help my business survive and thrive. For example I feel more confident about the accounts, something I had found very daunting in the past. Most importantly I have been able to make real changes to my business, from small things such as changing animal feed to reduce costs to some longer term changes to the herd by looking at cross-breeds. The Initiative has boosted my confidence and allowed me to spend time with like-minded, forward-thinking family farmers who have the same aspirations as myself”.

The Dairy Initiative is part of Business in the Community’s ‘The Prince’s Rural Action Programme’, which engages businesses to tackle the key issues facing rural areas. Mark Allen, Chairman of the Programme, and Chief Executive of Dairy Crest, said, “After a year of damaging floods and record cereal prices driving up the price of cattle feed there has never been a more important time to support vulnerable farmers. The decline in the number of dairy farms in the UK has real implications for the sustainability of the dairy sector and the fabric of the rural economy and the countryside. Food security is a growing issue and we know that global food production needs to increase dramatically, which represents a significant opportunity for countries with thriving farming sectors. It is in all of our interests to support this sector. Through this Initiative we are developing a practical programme to help address the issue collaboratively. Our hope is that by getting the sector to work together we will lay the foundations for a thriving and sustainable dairy supply chain.”

The Prince’s Dairy Initiative will provide participating family farmers with:

• Five practical workshops delivered by leading experts in the dairy sector on topics such as herd health and financial management
• Free benchmarking of their production costs through DairyCo’s Milkbench process
• Advice from experts on opportunities to reduce costs and improve technical farm performance
• Access to a network of local farmers to share knowledge and best practice performance

Existing supporters of The Prince’s Dairy Initiative include Arla Milk Link, DairyCo, Dairy Crest, Dairy UK, Fayrefields Foods, First Milk, Glanbia Cheese, Lactalis McClleland, Meadow Foods, Müller-Wiseman, NFU, Royal Association of British Dairy Farmers, Volac, Wyke Farms, and Yeo Valley. Their continued financial and practical support is necessary to ensure the proposed roll out over the next three years.

Businesses and farmers interested in getting involved in the scheme should contact Orlanda Otley at Business in the Community, email orlanda.otley@bitc.org.uk, tel. 020 7566 6664.