Dairy Farmers of Britain has today announced the disposal of its Nene Valley Foods business based at Peterborough to Meadow Foods for an undisclosed sum.

John Grantchester, Chairman of Dairy Farmers of Britain said:

“This disposal is part of our wider strategic review of DFB’s processing activity. We are working hard to address the challenges we face in our business and this work continues.”

Our Member Business Centre has established a register of members with dairy cattle to sell – either in the normal course of their business or through dispersals – to put them in contact with members seeking replacements or wishing to expand. All anyone who has cattle for sale or with dispersal sales planned needs to do is provide us with their details by phoning 08700 108181 or e-mailing memberbusinesscentre@dfob.co.ukand we will enter them on the register. Equally, those looking to acquire cattle can get an up-to-date copy of the register by phoning the MBC or logging onto our website at www.dfob.co.uk.

Current Cattle for sale:

R Wikins has 80 Holstein Friesian Cows for sale available immediately. Please call R Wilkins on 01253 790503.

May 5, 2009 - F Nicholson & Son in Ripon have 24 in calf heifers for Sale. Cattle are available from August 2009. Please call A C Nicholson on 01765 603535.

May 8, 2009 - I Jones in North Wales has 25 Jersey calves for sale, out of imperial ringmaster 6500kg 6 fat 4 protein. Call 07810 037919

Issued on behalf of The Co-operative Group, Dairy Farmers of Britain, Robert Wiseman Dairies, Dairy Crest and Yeo Valley

The Co-operative Group has today confirmed that it has awarded contracts to supply fresh milk to its food stores to Wiseman, Dairy Crest and Yeo Valley.

The Group and Dairy Farmers of Britain (DFB), which currently fulfils a number of the Group’s milk contracts, have confirmed that they are working with the three chosen suppliers to ensure that the migration of milk supply is managed with customers’ and farmers’ interests in mind.

This co-ordinated approach will ensure that as much milk as possible for the contracts, which are effective from 1 August, 2009, is supplied from DFB farming members.

Last November Dairy Farmers of Britain announced a restructuring programme to rationalise its dairy network, decentralise the business and reduce costs.

This process has now been completed and, as planned, the business has been separated into a ‘Milk Supply and Cheese’ division headed by Martin Armstrong and a ‘Liquid Milk’ division, headed by Gerry Smith, both of whom, along with Mark Strickland, Chief Financial Officer, will report directly to the Board.

Following the completion of the restructuring, Andrew Cooksey has announced he will now stand down as Chief Executive.

Commenting on the announcement, John Grantchester, Chairman, said:

“Andrew has worked tirelessly over the last few years to re-position the business. On behalf of my fellow directors and the company I would like to thank Andrew and his family for his contributions over the past four years and he has our best wishes for the future.”

Dairy Farmers of Britain has today announced a milk price reduction of 2.2ppl, effective from April 1.

This reduction will apply across all its milk supply schedules and will be implemented as a reduction in the flat rate element.

Commenting on the announcement, John Grantchester, Chairman, said:

“It is with disappointment that we have announced this price reduction to our members today. The dairy markets have weakened significantly and the level of competition in both liquid and cheese sectors has brought intense pressure on price and margins across our product range. In addition, despite the successful completion of our restructuring programme, our core business continues to face challenges and this is in part reflected in this milk price announcement.

“In setting the April milk price the Board has therefore had to take into account our short term fall in revenue, the need to quickly conclude the reshaping of the business, and the requirements of our banking covenants.

He added:

“We recognise that making a late announcement about the April milk price is not satisfactory, but it is a consequence of having to manage the complex mix of factors we face to try to get the best deal we can for the business and our members. Our bank, HSBC, remains supportive as we work hard to improve and position the business for the future.”

As Council chairman, I have no doubt that approving our Board’s proposed debt to equity swap is in the best interests of our business and, as such, both members and loan stock holders. FSA rules prevent me from giving financial advice, but I need to make a few things plain to everyone ahead of the votes.

Two key issues have prevented us moving forward in the past year – the performance of our liquid business and the level and complexity of our debt. So we simply have to sort out both these issues from the start of the new milk year if we are to have a reasonable future either as a standalone business or as part of any wider industry consolidation.

The debt to equity decision is not about putting the interests of any one section of our investors ahead of another. It’s about everyone working in the best interests of both themselves and each other. After all, the reality is that we all need this business to thrive if we are to realise the investment we have in it, whatever it’s called – equity, loan stock, Member Investment Accounts or Member Capital Accounts.

The complexities of the process and the immediacy of the debt make the loan stock decision especially crucial in my view. First, 50% of the value of each of the six issues needs to be represented at the March 26 vote – whether in person or by proxy – with 75% voting in favour. I’m glad to say that in the past week the Board has agreed to remove two important concerns for many loan stock holders – the different classes of shares and the fact that they might be cancelled at any stage at its discretion.

I urge every loan stock holder to make their vote count in the coming week, appreciating that the best course of action for the business also gives them the best chance of realising their loan stock value.

Many thanks to the many loan stock holders who have submitted their vote or proxy form to us over the past few days. It really shows you appreciate the vote’s importance to our future.

We recognise there have been two issues causing some concern as far as the loan stock conversion is concerned and have moved to tackle them as a matter of urgency.

First, Clause 3.2 (e) concerning the redemption or cancellation of the shares at the Board’s discretion. This was included to mirror the rights which already pertain to members’ voting shares and to provide a mechanism to return value to the shareholders in the future. Recognising its restrictive nature as drafted, however, this clause has been amended to specify that the Board can makean offer to the individual shareholders to redeem or cancel the shares, but such redemption or cancellation will require individual members’ agreement. This means shareholders will have the ability to agree to or refuse any offer for the redemption of their shares. A new Explanatory Statement will be sent out shortly.

At the same time, further legal advice confirms that there is no need make a distinction between “A” shares for members and “B” shares for non-members. So things will be simplified by issuing only one class of “A Ordinary” shares – to all debt-holders, be they members or non-members. As well as providing additional assurance that there will be no difference in the way shareholders are treated, this simplifies the administration of share trading (with shares being freely transferable, subject to current members holding sufficient shares to meet their Minimum Investment Threshold).

The Board’s proposal to convert Member Investment Accounts, Member Capital Accounts, Preference Shares and Loan Stock issues into equity at the end of this month is an essential part of its concerted effort to put the co-operative on the best possible footing from the start of the coming milk year.

By the end of March the major liquid business restructuring and overhead reduction programme to improve operating profitability announced in November will have been completed within budget. As explained when the Board set out its revised strategy, this will allow our co-operative to start the new milk year as a far stronger stand-alone business. The unsolicited approach received from a third party business last month further confirms the extent to which the restructuring opens the door for us to play

a meaningful role in the additional milk supply industry rationalisation long advocated.

To ensure members and Loan Stock holders are in the strongest possible position to benefit from any such rationalisation as equity holders while significantly strengthening its stand-alone business balance sheet DFB’s current highly complex capital structure has to be changed. This is why the Board is seeking your approval to convert the various classes of debt into equity as a matter of urgency.

The change needs to take place without delay to make the most of current opportunities, with separate approval required from the holders of all six issues of our Loan Stock alongside Council approval for the creation of equity shares and the conversion of member investments. I can assure you that the Board would not undertake such an accelerated change were it not so vital to the future of your business and the stability of the milk supply industry as a whole.

That members funds are categorised as debt is a financial quirk of the original co-operative model.
Re-categorising them as equity in the way proposed should not materially affect the level of capital risk to either members or Loan Stock holders. The Board is convinced the potential rewards of this move outweigh the possible disadvantages for all concerned. As your chairman, I very much hope the vast majority of our investors will agree with this assessment when they consider the proposal for themselves and approve changing the capital structure to a model that has been under consideration for some time.

The Approval Process

All current members and Loan Stock holders have been informed of the proposal to convert member debt into equity in formal letters. The decision on current member investments will be made by Council on Friday March 27. The District Chairmen attending this meeting will be fully briefed beforehand, with a series of regional council meetings taking place in the week of March 16 to enable detailed discussion.

Formal decisions on the conversion of Loan Stocks will be taken on Thursday March 26 at a series of meetings – one for each of the six issues. For each to be approved, 50% of the value of the stock must be represented in person or by proxy, with 75% voting in favour.

Subject to these approvals and registration of the changes by the FSA, new classes of member (A) and investor (B) equity shares will be created, with member investments and Loan Stock converted into them at the earliest opportunity. Mechanisms will be established to allow dividends to be declared and shares to be traded. Details of the specifics of these proposals will be provided on our member website.

ESSENTIAL ACTION

Members: Please get in touch with your District Chairmen before March 27 to ask any questions about your member capital and express your opinion so they can properly represent your views in the Council vote. You can also obtain information from your RBMs and the MBC.

Loanstock Holders:Please attend your specific issue meeting(s) on March 26 or complete a proxy form for each of your holdings and return them to arrive by March 24 at the latest, appreciating we need at least 50% of the value of each issue to be represented to enable any decision to be made.

In the first phase of our strategy to introduce Cadog organic cheddar later this year in an appropriately green pack, we have just repackaged Wales’ favourite vintage cheddar in a distinctive new black livery.

“Playing to established consumer associations with sophistication substance and strength, the black packaging helps strengthen the image of our award-winning vintage cheddar while creating space
for an equally high impact organic range extension,” explains cheese marketing manager, Mike Whetter.

“With the new black Cadog pack now in full distribution across Welsh stores, we are using this change to reinforce brand awareness in the run up to St David’s Day with a high profile press campaign run throughout the Welsh media and our Llandyrnog team prominent at this week’s Really Welsh Food Festival on Cardiff’s Queen Street giving consumers the chance to taste the entire Cadog range.

Following an in-depth review of all alternative supply arrangements with Tesco, we have agreed that the planned closure of our Portsmouth and Fole dairies and their associated distribution depots will be accompanied by the withdrawal of localchoice milk from the regions served by these sites as they close. Apart from East Anglian milk through Lincoln which will also cease at the end of this month, localchoice business in regions unaffected by the closures will continue unchanged.

We have already informed localchoice suppliers serving Portsmouth, Fole and Lincoln of this necessary but none-the-less disappointing operational change which will mean all their milk returning to the relevant liquid payment schedule.

Alongside our highly successful cheese business with the leading retailer, we are actively working with Tesco to develop our regional milk offering as part of its continued major commitment to local food sourcing across the UK.

Despite the continued weakness and great uncertainty of dairy markets across the country, I’m pleased to tell you that the Board has agreed to hold our current milk price across all contracts for March.

Following his election last year, Roger Taylor remains on course to take up his position as a director on the Board and in the meantime continues to work closely with the team. To ensure the greatest possible continuity, we are most grateful to David Wilkinson for agreeing to be co-opted to the Board until our next AGM and to remain as vice chairman for the time being.

I would also like to welcome the corporate mergers and acquisitions specialists from Pricewaterhouse Coopers who are playing a key role in advising us on the third party approach we have received. At this early stageand in spite of the inevitable industry speculation, I can only say that discussions continue and reinforce my personal commitment to keeping you informed of any developments once commercial confidentiality allows.

All three of our core liquid dairies have improved their operating efficiency substantially as we come towards the end of the first year of our continuous operational improvement programme.

Always a top performing dairy, Blaydon has delivered a 10% efficiency improvement under the programme as well as installing an extra new carton machine to accommodate the extra volumes from Fole. At the same time, it has recently passed an unannounced Tesco audit at ‘green’ level – equalling the best achieved by any dairy in the country. Although only about half way through the first phase of its programme, Lincoln has also boosted operating efficiency by 10% with the promise of far more to come in the full 12 months, while Bridgend has achieved a 20% efficiency improvement to date, even before the installation of an additional trolley packer to enable the new bottling line to be fully utilised.

FROM THE CHAIR - John Grantchester

The major restructuring programme we embarked upon in November to reduce overheads, improve efficiencies and simplify the customer base in our liquid division is being kept well on schedule and budget. At the same time, I’m glad to report our team has continued to improve the efficiency and customer base of our strong cheese and manufacturing businesses, as well as achieving the greatest possible transport savings through continuous milk collection and delivery improvements.

Unfortunately, rapidly deteriorating market conditions have forced us, as margin managers, to make a further unwelcome adjustment to our raw milk price this month on top of the November reduction.

UKmilk market prospects for the next few months look far from good. So price volatility seems likely to be with us for some while to come. This only serves to emphasise the vital importance of keeping our drive to transform business efficiency firmly on track. That way we’ll be able to deliver genuinely competitive member returns whatever the state of the overall market.

LIQUID MILK DEVELOPMENTS - Gerry Smith

Our liquid division restructuring programme is well on plan. Constructive discussions with the unions have allowed us to conclude employee consultations ahead of schedule. So I can confirm that Portsmouth will cease production on February 28^th and Fole on March 31^st, enabling us to clear both sites and return them to their landlords in June.

We have already sold spare manufacturing equipment at the two sites in an agreement that includes responsibility for site clearance. This means we are protected against unforeseen extra costs and the risks associated with selling by auction in the current over-supplied second hand market.

The phased transfer of production to our other sites is also proceeding smoothly. So far we have transferred more than 28 million litres of annualised processing to Blaydon and Lincoln without a hitch. At the end of this month, the remaining Portsmouth volumes will be transferred to Lincoln and in the last week of March the final Fole volumes will move to Bridgend and Blaydon.

I’m pleased to say the continuous efficiency improvement programmes we’ve been undertaking at Blaydon, Bridgend and Lincoln over the past year have ensured sufficient capacity at these dairies to accommodate the extra volumes from Portsmouth and Fole with minimal capital expenditure. The additional throughput is already leading to significant utilisation gains at our key dairies which will translate into major across-the-board liquid dairy utilisation improvements for the new milk year.

The progress we have made to date leaves me confident our restructuring will be delivered on time and in full, leaving us far better placed than ever to face the turbulent market that is developing.

COUNCIL REVIEWS RESTRUCTURING PROGRESS

Having received a progress report on our restructuring programme and questioned chief executive Andrew Cooksey closely at its meeting last week, our Council has welcomed the efficiency with which its various elements are being implemented despite the current milk market turmoil.

“From the outset we made it clear we needed to see rapid progress being made in achieving the promised operating savings and efficiency gains,” comments Council chairman, Stephen Yates.

“We are pleased to see the physical restructuring moving ahead to its established targets and will be continuing to keep a close eye on progress through to completion by the end of March.”

“However, I have to say that the speed and scale of the deterioration we have seen across the whole UK milk market in the past month in particular is causing us huge concern. It’s really very difficult to see anything positive in our industry’s market place at the moment.”

ADF is part of Assured Food Standards (AFS) and is responsible for constructing and implementing the national dairy farm assurance scheme throughout the UK.

The Board of ADF oversees the work of the organisation. There are 14 Board members drawn from across the industry – including dairy farmers, dairy processors retailers, vets, and farmer-representative bodies.

As one of the leading dairy processors and farmer co-operatives, Dairy Farmers of Britain can, through its membership of Dairy UK, contribute one Board member and is now looking for applications for this position and take over from Tim Gibson (DFB member, Yorkshire) who has been on the ADF Board for the last three years.

The key responsibility of the role will be to attend the ADF Board meetings (4-6 per year, normally held at the Dairy UK offices in London) and to actively contribute to the agenda, fully and objectively representing DFB and our members’ best interests.

ADF currently has a full set of agenda items, with important implications for the dairy industry, for example:

• Working to achieve better and more effective regulation
• Focusing on health and welfare issues in particular
• Developing the relationship of ADF with the Dairy Hygiene Inspectorate and the Food Standards Agency
• Harmonisation of AFS Standards and single inspection on multi-enterprise farm businesses
• The extension of the ADF scheme to the raw milk distribution sector
• Adoption of ADF in Northern Ireland

The DFB representative will need to maintain a regular link with the Membership team for technical exchange and to report to Council and the Membership Development Group (MDG) as required – perhaps twice per year.

Although not a formal requirement, a 3-year term is probably a realistic commitment.

The position will be remunerated on a daily-rate basis with out-of-pocket expenses covered.

If you are a DFB member and are interested in carrying out this role, please contact Kate Boulton on 08700 108181 or kateboulton@dfob.co.uk. We would like you to submit a brief application giving some information on your farming background, your interest in the role and why you think you could contribute effectively to ADF.

As a result of the current weakness in the milk market I am writing to inform you that your Board has made the difficult but necessary decision to implement a further milk price reduction.

The reduction of 1.1ppl to the flat rate element of all DFB Schedules (B&W, Organic and Channel Island), will be effective from February 5, 2009.

We recognise the impact that this will have but, as is being reported extensively, the sector is under considerable pressure from lower consumer demand, continued poor returns from cream sales, ample supply, weakening commodity markets, milk importation and aggressive selling activity by our competitors.

In November 2008, we announced a reduction in the member milk price, in part to fund the essential restructuring of our Liquids business and in part, to reflect the reduced returns from cream sales.

In the two months since that announcement, markets have weakened further and this price adjustment is a reaction to those market pressures. The programme to reduce our overhead and processing costs, improve our efficiencies and simplify our customer base is progressing to plan and we are continuing to pursue it energetically.

It hardly needs saying that this announcement will be desperately unwelcome to our members. But the reality is that dairy markets are currently weak and market prospects for the first part of 2009 are poor. We also must recognise that milk price volatility will be a feature of our industry in the near term. Against this background, we will continue to streamline our operations and work to maximise returns from all our markets so we can, as set out during December, deliver improvements to the competitiveness of our milk price later this year.

If you have any queries please do not hesitate to contact your District Chairman, your Regional Business Manager or the Member Business Centre.

Yours sincerely

John Grantchester
Chairman

The South Penrith district chairman, David Baxter has taken on the chairmanship of our North Cumbria & North East region and joined our Membership Development Group. No stranger to the challenge of change, he runs 240 commercial Holsteins on 500 acres currently well into organic conversion at Bolton Lodge.

Although there are significant worries and there is no doubt that 2009 will be a challenging year for the sector, the organic milk market is holding encouragingly firm despite the economic downturn. This is according to the detailed market review presented at our latest series of specialist meetings for organic members.

Retail sales figures for the most recent 12 weeks show the recession beginning to bite, with total sales of all organic foods down nearly 11% on the same period the year before. What’s more, consumer surveys reveal 48% of organic shoppers intend to reduce organic purchasing. Milk, cheese and butter are, however, among just six of the top 20 organic food markets currently continuing to grow.

The 12-week retail figures highlight both volume and value growth in organic milk sales; this is being driven by price inflation as well as new shoppers buying into the sector. Organic cheese also appears to be doing relatively well, increasing both sales volumes and value compared to the year before, although losing slight value share to standard cheese. Particular volume share increases have been achieved by Tesco, Asda and Waitrose. Organic cheddar is showing strong overall gains and is significantly out-performing standard cheddar to increase its market share.

We can accommodate two or three more delegates on each of the February, March and April modules of the special co-operative training programme being run regionally for district chairmen on our behalf by the Co-operative College. Any member interested in exploring this valuable professional development opportunity should contact Kate Boulton on 01270 621989 for further information as soon as possible.

We have produced a practical management checklist to help members ensure their Bactoscans stay firmly below 50 thousand/ml despite the particular challenges of this year’s extremely wet autumn and cold early winter. In this easy-to-read advice sheet, independent mastitis and milk hygiene consultant, Debbie Gilks sets out a dozen key questions to ask and simple actions to take to combat any Bactoscan concerns.

“Because milk hygiene problems are far more often associated with milking equipment than cows, always start at the bulk tank and work back towards the stock,” she advises. “Tell-tale signs like bulk tanks that aren’t smooth to the touch as well as visibly clean, slimy deposits between the plate cooler plates, milkstone in claws or flowmeters, and debris in mastitis detectors are clear indications that all is not as it should be. And timely checks on circulation washing times and temperatures, regular replacement of liners and diligent preparation of dirty udders will all pay dividends in avoiding hygiene breakdowns in what is shaping-up to be a high pressure winter.”

Copies of the single sheet checklist are available to all members from the Member Business Centre on 08700 108181.

Parallel national launches of our new 1^st Grade top quality hard cheeses with Tesco and Cadog Export Welsh cheddar with Asda in December both proved successful, reports cheese marketing manager, Mike Whetter.

The three-week gondola-end 1^st Grade campaign was extended by a further week ‘on the shelf’ in more than 550 Tesco stores, delivering sales ahead of forecast and strong consumer recognition for our metallised film-packaged premium brand. “This has been carried through into ahead-of-forecast sales in the post-campaign period, getting our year-long exclusive distribution arrangement off to the best possible start,” Mike points out.

“At the same time, Cadog Export was a big hit with Asda consumers,” he adds. “During its first three weeks stock sold off the gondola end so fast some of our competitors even complained it was damaging their sales! This success means we are now in discussion with Asda buyers about a permanent listing for the brand.”

“Our concerted effort to appeal to consumers through key multiples and the outstanding work done by teams at both Llandyrnog and Lubborn in meeting unprecedented demand leaves us in a strong position to develop the premium end of the every-day cheese market we have identified as a key opportunity. I can safely say that DFB-branded cheeses have never been in more households than they have been in the past month. And all the evidence is they are really going down well.”

Lubborn enjoyed record sales this Christmas, with an extended range of seasonal specials adding to strong demand from established soft cheese favourites like Somerset Brie. Amongst the particular highlights, our innovative Channel Island Camembert with Brushettine proved an excellent seller in both M&S and Co-op stores across the country. Morrisons had great success with special packs of Capricorn featuring our goats decked out in festive outfits. And Somerset Gold formed an important part of Tesco’s Finest cheese selection pack.

The root and branch liquids business processing restructuring plan announced in late November is designed to deliver its full operational and financial improvements from the start of the new financial year in April 2009.
Subject to consultation wherever necessary, our planned programme discussed with members at 58 separate meetings in December involves the following key activities being completed by the end of March:

The formation of two business divisions: liquid milk and cheese / milk supply. 
Reducing administrative costs at Nantwich and Blaydon.
The proposed closure of Portsmouth dairy.
The proposed closure of Fole dairy.
Transfer of volume to Bridgend, Lincoln and Blaydon.
Consolidating the distribution network from 25 to 20 depots.

As a consequence of these developments we will be able to significantly increase dairy utilisation levels and cut the annual costs of our Liquids division by nearly 30%. Alongside a major rationalisation of liquid product marketing across the country and continued improvements in the efficiency of manufacturing at Llandyrnog, Lubborn and Nene Valley, these changes have been calculated to deliver a complete turn-round in profitability for the 2009/10 financial year, putting the business back on a sustainably sound financial basis.

As we start the New Year and our liquids restructuring programme moves ahead strongly, I want to set out clearly how we will be keeping you as fully informed as we can about the progress we are making in delivering our revised business strategy.

As part of my better communication pledge I am determined we will only be giving you facts. Projections and promises are as unreliable as speculation and rumour; especially so in the current economic climate. So we will only tell you about progress once we are confident it has been made and is having a measurable effect.

Scheduled to be completed by March 31, our restructuring will deliver its full operational and financial improvements from the start of the new milk year in April. So we cannot realistically expect to report sustainable bottom line benefits until June at the earliest.

In the interim, however, we will be providing you with regular progress reports on the key physical and operational achievements of our programme as it moves forward. And we will do so against the milestones set out in the strategy presented at our round of pre-Christmas meetings. That way you will be able to monitor the extent to which your business is actually delivering on its promises well ahead of this becoming apparent in the bottom line figures.

In the Updates that arrive with your milk cheque each month – as well as via e-mail – from now on you will be receiving progress reports directly from myself as well as divisional directors, Gerry Smith, in charge of our liquids business, and Martin Armstrong, responsible for milk supply and cheese. Membership director, Matt Sheehan will also make direct contributions on other aspects of our development, as appropriate.

Our membership team will continue to provide you with news and views on other areas of product, marketing, market and member interest in an e-mailed or posted Update every other week. And we will, of course, be reporting any significant business developments as they happen both here and on our members’ website.

Within the bounds of obvious commercial confidentiality, I very much hope you will find our new approach gives you the best possible insight into what’s really happening in our business so you can have the confidence to continue giving us the support that is vital to our success.

Suspension of Auctions

DFB has today announced that it has asked Sharemark to temporarily suspend auctions of its Loan Stock.

On the 28 November 2008, the company announced a substantial restructuring of its business.

In the interests of both buyers and sellers, given that DFB is currently undergoing its restructure, DFB has suspended trading in Loan Stock.

The situation will be reviewed in April.

Mark Strickland

Chief Financial Officer

The challenge of maintaining low levels of mastitis and high levels of milk hygiene has been particularly acute for many over the past autumn with record rainfall meaning muddier cows and earlier housing, point out independent mastitis management and milk hygiene consultants, Elizabeth Berry and Debbie Gilks who provide specialist member support. And it is likely to be made worse this winter by the dietary stresses resulting from relatively poor forage stocks as well as less strict culling of high cell count cows in response to high replacement costs. Under these circumstances, they advise members to pay particular attention to:

Good pre-milking udder hygiene and preparation;
Consistent post-milking teat disinfection with a quality dip or spray;
Regular milking machine checking and servicing by a competent tester;
Effective cleaning of all milking equipment to the correct wash/milkstone removal regime;
Religious changing of liners every 2500 milkings;
Clean, well-ventilated housing with ample dry bedding;
Tip-top hygiene of all cows at drying off and management throughout the dry period; and,
Bacteriology as well as clinical records and cell counts to pinpoint mastitis problems.

More than ever this season, our consultants insist that attention to detail in both mastitis management and milk hygiene will pay dividends, with a clear plan of action ensuring everyone involved in the day-to-day running of the herd prioritises herd hygiene, is alert for early signs of trouble and knows exactly what to do to nip any problems in the bud.

Council chairman, Stephen Yates has expressed his personal appreciation to all members involved in the latest round of meetings for their interest and understanding.

“I would like to thank all those who have attended the meetings for the calm and rational approach they have shown and for the constructive discussions held”, he said at the end of the two week round of 58 meetings with some 1200 member businesses attending. “There has been virtually no rancour; just a desire to have the broad and serious-minded debate essential for us at this critical time. I have been hugely heartened by the clear majority of members willing to join me in continuing to give our business their support for the time being”.

“I wish everyone a happy Christmas and look forward to a far brighter New Year.”