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Worcestershire to give members a better understanding of all the elements involved in the liquid milk supply chain.

‘Liquid Milk Market – Understanding The Supply Chain’ was run in conjunction with Robert Wiseman Dairies, EFFP (English Farming & Food Partnerships) and Natural England.

The event was an opportunity for members to follow their milk from the farm, via the haulier and on to the processor and to consider the challenges facing all parties to maximise returns, safeguard product quality and deliver maximum customer service.

Producers started their day at Rowe Farm in Worcestershire, where member Matthew Field outlined his low-cost, low-labour model of dairy farming. Matthew and his father Peter milk 150 cows, producing 4000 litres per day – and for most of the year, there is just the two of them.

Matthew also explained his slurry system on the farm and Tim Ashley of Mucksmart, talked about the effectiveness of Matthew’s system, as well as the implications of NVZ compliance. Tim also carried out a slurry sampling exercise to outline how all farmers could better utilise the nutrients in manure – in Matthew’s case, it was a possible four figure gain.

The group then moved on to First Milk’s depot at Droitwich, where members learned more about how we balance farm outputs and customer requirements. Robin Shipton of our distribution department, showed members how milk samples from every farm were collated and stored and highlighted the importance of keeping the milk at the correct temperature at all stages, as well as explaining our tanker hygiene procedures.

Finally, the group were taken to Robert Wiseman Dairies’ Droitwich factory, where procurement director Pete Nicholson talked members through the production process, before leading everyone on a factory tour.

Producer Rob Bevan from Ross on Wye, said: “I would recommend this type of event to every farmer because it is a really interesting way of seeing all of the components in the supply chain from start to finish. This event really helped me to understand the challenges throughout this process.”

First Milk’s Southern Membership Manager Lee Truelove said the event had been a huge success and he hopes to be able to repeat the session with other groups of members at other locations around the UK.