Good news for the organic dairy farmers affected by Dairy Farmers of Britain going into receivership!
Organic milk co-operative, OMSCo, is to take on all their collections and the marketing of their milk.
The deal, which was first rumoured yesterday, has been concluded quickly and is explained in more detail in this news release.
You can also read about how things are going for all affected suppliers in this Farmers Weekly piece.
New research suggests that the production of organic bread results in 25 per cent lower CO2 emissions than its non-organic counterpart.
We like this kind of thing, not just because it’s good for the promotion of organic food, but because any credible scientific study that gives us hard data to back up what we believe to be true is always very much welcomed!
The NFU is maintaining a frequently asked questions section on its website for Dairy Farmers of Britain members who are worrying about where they stand and what the future holds. You can visit the page here (credit to @CarolineFW at Farmers Weekly for flagging up the link).
There are many organic milk producers who may be looking for an alternative buyer following Dairy Farmers of Britain going into administration.
While, unfortunately, we don’t have it in our power to hand out contracts, we thought we could at least aggregate the organic milk buyers we know of for anyone who feels like it’s time to make some calls.
There is word starting to surface about what’s going to happen with DFoB organic collections in the immediate future (good news, it seems), but we’ll update on that if we can confirm what’s being said…
So here’s our list of names and numbers. Good luck!
Dairy Crest – 01372 472571
Omsco – 01934 511 115
Robert Wisemans – 01355 244261
Alvis Brothers – 01934 862320 / 01934 863000
Arla – 01737 852325
Calon Wen – 01994 241 481 (Wales)
First Milk – 0141 887 6111
Milk Link – 01752 331881
Cottswold Dairies – 01684 298959
Bowland Fresh Milk – 01200 445 856 (Lancashire)
Trioni – 01239 682572 (Wales)
The news that Dairy Farmers of Britain has sunk into receivership is extremely sad. That this can happen in a country that has a world-leading reputation and proud heritage in dairy production makes it an appalling state of affairs.
Thousands of farmers across the country are going to be waiting on tenterhooks to find out what is likely to happen and whether they will continue to have an outlet for their product. Included in this are many organic farmers and while organic is only a relatively small part of the picture, consistency of supply is even more critical in the sector, because you can’t just turn it on and off.
If we lose farmers out of organics because of this, they can’t simply re-enter if an opportunity arises – they’ll need to re-convert over the course of two years. Maintaining a balance between supply and demand for organic milk is a delicate thing. At the moment, most indications are that we are fairly close to some kind of equilibrium (it depends who you talk to though).
The problem seems to be in the supply chain and the absence of a fair price being passed back to the producers, even though their costs have risen sharply in recent times. Would we all really be that upset about paying a few pence more for a pint if we knew it was going back to where it was needed?
The trouble is, the big retailers can’t move the price on one of their key benchmark products because it doesn’t play well at all with their customers. The answer is for them all to put up the price, but competition law prevents that from happening in any concerted way. They can’t talk together about things like that. The scenario provides good protection for consumers, but means that market forces at the retail end of the chain are really the only thing determining price – and that’s distorting the rest of the chain.
The good news so far is that the administrators of DFoB are working to try and ensure collections from the member farms continue as normal while they work out whether parts of the business can be sold off. Fingers crossed that they succeed.
Here’s a round-up of some of the coverage on the issue and we’ll continue to keep an eye on it:
This is a very interesting piece from the Independent, Ireland. Apparently the country has seen a 79 per cent (!) increase in applications for organic conversion between last year and this.
Are they seeing a similar pattern to the one that happened in the UK in the last few years? Is this their big upswing, as we had over the course of recent years here?
Hopefully it’s not just a fad based on obtaining the available subsidies and there is a market for the converting produce that will come into the system in a year or so…
The market for organic food is still healthy and still growing, but the conversion period can distort the balance between supply and demand, leading to peaks and troughs in both availability and profitability. You always need to look closely at whatever forecasts are available for the market you intend to supply.
Rivalry is growing in the OF&G offices as obsessive sunflower measuring becomes the order of the day.
Apparently it’s upstart new boy, producer CO Alex Patchett, leading the competition to produce the tallest helianthus annuus (don’t you just love Wikipedia?!). Alex has achieved a whopping 28cm. It’s a far cry from his widely ridiculed poor start.
Prize for the most useless effort so far also resides in the producer certification office, as Nicola Mason’s attempt was dealt a devastating blow in an unfortunate encounter with a bunny. There will be, we are told, no coming back from that!
After making all the noise in the early running with their gaudily decorated pots, the processor department ladies obviously aren’t doing enough talking to their delicate charges and have been left behind.
So here, in all its glory, is Alex’s whopping, strapping, field-leading sunflower. Don’t get too excited.
Interesting debate may be on the cards following the publication by the journal Food Policy (via FoodNavigator.com) of research into whether the public would accept food labelled as being “in-conversion” to organic.
It’s easy to see people coming down firmly on each side of the fence on this issue. We’d be fascinated to hear your comments below.
On one hand an “in-conversion” label would give producers who are on the road to full status the chance to possibly recoup some level of premium price for their efforts. On the other hand, would we risk confusing shoppers if we haven’t yet done a good enough job of explaining the reasons why they should be buying certified organic produce?
Co-ops can work really well for organic producers and processors. That’s not a ground-breaking statement, obviously. But we have been trying to spread the message for a number of years.
It’s something that’s probably easier said than done, because lots of pieces have to come together to make it work, but when it does work it puts some power back in the hands of the members and should keep more of the value from their work in their hands as well.
That’s why this piece published by Poultry World is very interesting. A group of Northumberland farmers have got together to fill a gap they’d identified in their local poultry market. Two organic farms, both OF&G licensees, will rear the chickens, ducks and guinea fowl, which will then be processed on a third site, also an OF&G licensee. What makes their enterprise even more fascinating is that they’ve been supported in setting it up by “Made in Northumberland”, an initiative which is part of Northumberland Tourism.
Capital has been provided which they will repay at a fixed amount per bird, allowing the enterprise to keep its costs predictable and relative to sales success.
The group is aiming to supply the product direct from the farms and has already received interest from restaurants and food retailers in the area.
This kind of collaborative arrangement, using public money to seed it, seems to be a great model and you can’t help but think that there are more opportunities out there to meet a market, with some co-operation and a supportive backer.
The farmers in question are Angus and Duncan Nelless (unfortunately, and incorrectly, spelt ‘Nellis’ in the article) and Graham and Michael Rutherford, with the processing to be carried out by Richard Tolson.
We wish them every success and hope that there might be an opportunity for any lessons they learn through their experience to be shared with the wider organic community.
OCW has unveiled its new director following the departure of Nic Lampkin to the Organic Research Centre at Elm Farm.
Sue Fowler takes over the role having been policy officer at OCW in recent years.
The centre, part of Aberystwyth University, plays an important role in research and advice for organic food and farming. You can read the full press release here.
Organic Farmers & Growers is a leading UK organic certification body i.e. we inspect and license organic food and farming - and were the first independent body in the UK approved by Government to do this!
Our blog is where we share interesting info and muse about the world. For a more formal view of OF&G, visit our website here.
