Free Range Milk and Profits in the Farming Industry

One of the recent farming stories of note has been the threat to the dairy sector, as monopsonistic supermarkets have put downwards pressure on prices. In this instance, though, some farmers are fighting back, using consumer tastes for free range produce by starting to produce free range milk.

Free Range Dairy, who supply the milk, guarantee that the milk comes from cows that have grazed outdoors for the minimum six months, and it is hoped that this will stop the decline in dairy farming with the total number of dairy farms in England and Wales currently 9,464, down from 13,000 a decade ago.

They hope to do this by re-establishing the notion that milk is more than a commodity crop, and that provenance is worth something. It will be interesting to see if this takes off. Ethical buying is growing even through the recession.