New guidance on joint ventures for dairy farmers

DairyCo has introduced a series of templates to provide guidance to dairy farmers who are considering a joint venture with other dairy businesses, or bringing others into the business structure.

The templates include contracts and guidance notes on share milking, contract farming, cow hire, and equity partnerships. The guidance notes have been written to help farmers understand the practical and legal implications of setting up a joint venture, and to assess the suitability of joint ventures for their business.

As the world of business changes there are ways in which dairy businesses can evolve too, and in discussion groups across GB we were finding farmers asking for more help and information on joint ventures, explains DairyCo product manager Kate Cross. These templates have been designed to support farmers decision-making, by drawing out the main implications of changing business structure, and stressing the main points to remember in order to stay on the right side of the Inland Revenue.

The templates are currently available on request for England and Wales, with versions for Scotland in production. To find out more contact DairyCo publications on 02476 478702

DairyCos aim is to promote world class knowledge to British dairy farmers so they can profit from a sustainable future.

To achieve this DairyCo aims to: 

• Ensure farmers have access to world class information needed to improve competitiveness, GHG reduction and productivity
• Ensure farmers have access to direct and indirect support to help them improve their profitability through better business management
• Ensure that dairy farming is reducing its impact on the environment
• Ensure farmers understand the benefits of breeding and use the related tools

DairyCo is funded entirely by milk producers, via a statutory levy on all milk sold off-farm, at the rate of 0.06p per litre.  This provides an annual income of around 6.5m.

DairyCo is a division of the statutory levy board, the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (AHDB)