NFU chief dairy adviser, James Osman, writes:
At the moment in the UK, it is easy to feel under attack as a dairy farmer. It feels like the whole world is going vegan, shunning dairy products in favour of alternatives, citing environmental, health or perhaps moral reasons for doing so. One farmer I met a few weeks ago said to me, “I feel like I am peddling cigarettes to kids”, such is the feeling of pressure on dairy and livestock production. We are naturally sensitive to any kind of attack on our industry and weigh our judgements based on the most recent news agenda. As such, it is easy to overplay it’s importance in our mind – psychologists refer to it as the 'availability heuristic'.
But when we scratch below the surface, the reality is far more positive, and by looking through a global lens, the future for dairy is certainly bright. I was lucky enough to attend the World Dairy Summit recently to gain this global perspective, and speak with dairy farmers from across the globe. Various speakers at the conference outlined the importance of dairy – for valuable nutrition, for environmental sustainability, for economic development, for providing jobs. A speaker from the Bill Gates Foundation outlined that dairy is one of the most important factors for ensuring children develop properly and live longer, healthier lives as a result.
At a farmers roundtable meeting we discussed the issue of animal activism and attacks on dairy farmers. It was clear from hearing the countries represented around the table that this was almost entirely an issue for Westernised countries, or as one person put it, ‘the privileged consumer’. After the French, Americans, and ourselves had outlined the issues with animal activists, a Kenyan farmer interjected to say, “I cannot understand why you have people that hate the cows? In Kenya, everyone loves the cows, they bring life, health and food and our people support dairy farmers wholeheartedly”.
Perspective is incredibly valuable for us to rise above a lot of the noise made by a tiny minority of the population in our country who have an agenda against us. In the UK, dairy products are still found in 98% of households. Yes there is now a lot of public interest in alternatives, but this doesn’t always bear out in consumer behaviour. Alternatives are a tiny fraction of the market, and consumption of dairy products has been strong and is increasing in some categories, and we often forget how much they are valued by consumers, both globally and in the UK.
So, what are the lessons to learn? For me, there are clearly some aspects we need to tackle as an industry, and for the NFU to lead on.
- We must to be attuned to the concerns and needs of the consumer. We cannot simply say we need to ‘educate’ the consumer. They expect us to develop to meet their needs and they don’t feel compelled to preserve us in aspic. So the role of the NFU is to understand these needs and address the concerns.
- We must tackle some of the reputational risk issues. There is a massive opportunity to get on the front foot and lead discussion, rather than be reactive. The NFU’s Net Zero ambition is a fantastic example of this, and has already put us in good stead. Even difficult issues like dealing with male bull calves are important to show leadership on. People don’t expect us to be perfect, but we must be seen to care, and to be trying to change.
- We must focus on transparency and invite people on to our farms. Over time, there has been a clear disconnect developing between farming and the general public. Our message should be ‘if you are concerned about where your milk comes from, visit a dairy farm and see for yourself – don’t get your information from YouTube’. Again the NFU has a major role here with our Education team, getting in to schools and engaging them with agriculture through the curriculum.
- We must keep our eyes open to the wider world. There are billions of people in the world who value our high quality, safe, nutritious, sustainable dairy products. We must embrace the moral imperative and utilise our skills and climate to produce for the global consumer. Again, this is a key ask of the NFU post-Brexit – for the Government to invest in our export and market development functions.
It is hard to embrace some of these when the day to day challenges can be all consuming – things like Bovine TB, low milk prices or a shortage of farm staff can take over our thinking. Of course these are all areas the NFU strives to help our members with every day, however, it is important that we keep them in perspective and recognise the massive opportunity we have as a global sector to supply a growing population with safe, affordable and nutritious food.