DairyCo

WI farming resolution vote cancelled

Published 9 June 11

Following an unprecedented move to cancel a vote on "factory farming", the WI called on the farming industry to open up a rational debate about the issues.

Dr Duncan Pullar, director of DairyCo said,  "We welcome the opportunity to have a reasoned debate based on facts.  DairyCo as an evidenced based organisation has been instrumental in providing factual information to dairy farmers and industry members who have been speaking to WI groups across the country.

"Dairy farmers have a big part to play in supplying sustainable food to an ever growing world population and we believe that there is room for different production systems and sizes of farms."

Staff at DairyCo took numerous calls from members of the WI in the lead up to the AGM all of whom were very concerned that there was a danger that WI members would not have enough understanding of the issues to make an informed decision about voting.  Having talked through the issues, WI members were also directed to the farmer funded website thisisdairyfarming.com a good place for the general public and the media to discover the facts about dairy farming.

Amanda Ball, head of marketing and communications said, "The task for the industry now is to promote the good work that dairy farmers do to care for their cows and the countryside. A well informed and open debate will help the general public understand the challenges that farmers face and organisations like the WI have a key role to play in helping the industry do just this."

Ends

N:         Helen Fina        
T:         02476 478696
E:         helen.fina@dairyco.org.uk
W:        www.dairyco.org.uk

DairyCo's 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).