Mary Mead speaks to Richard Brooks, Compassion's Director of Marketing.

"Farming is about people first and foremost... you need a vision, and the determination and knowledge to get things done."

A VOICE OF OPTIMISM - MARY MEAD

Thoughts from a day spent with 2008 Farmer of the Year and founder of Yeo Valley Organic

Over recent months, Compassion has become increasingly concerned by the trend towards further intensification of dairy farming, both here in the UK and further afield. We believe that confining pasture animals indoors for the majority of their lives in so called ‘mega-dairies’ breaks the connection between livestock farming and the land. It is extremely refreshing therefore to meet leading farmers such as Mary Mead who have an alternative vision for the future of the dairy industry.

It’s a typical spring day as I travel along the winding Mendips roads to meet award-winning organic dairy farmer Mary Mead and I’m greeted on arrival with a picturesque view of the sun reflecting off the lake bordering much of her farmland.

I can see why you would choose to live here. Mary has farmed here for five decades and her late husband’s family can trace its farming roots in the area back to the 1400s. Mary welcomes me through to her study, home to volumes of weighty cow breed books and a British Friesian cow model – the breed that makes up her two milking herds.

GROWING PAINS

I start by asking about her first experiences with farming.“I was very naïve, but my husband had been immersed in farming from a small child and he taught me so much. We started with egg production, buying day-old chicks, paid for with our wedding present money. After we moved to the farm, we committed ourselves to the serious business of milk production, starting with 35 cows. Grass grows well in this area and the dairy business gradually expanded over the years”.

So was it the rural idyll that many might imagine? “Not at all! It was extraordinarily hard work. Fifty years ago, we had to do so much ourselves – we’d farm in the day and build sheds at night. Thankfully my husband had tremendous vision and physical energy.”The work has clearly paid off – Mary now farms over 400 cows with youngstock, beef and sheep across 1,200 acres of land.

BEST IN BREED

As we start to talk more generally about farming, Mary can’t help but come back to the issue of breed – something that she’s clearly passionate about. Why British Friesian in particular though, I ask? “We have heavy land and a high rainfall, and the British Friesian breed, with its strong legs and feet, has proved the ideal grazing animal. It was the obvious choice for us – we’ve never considered anything else! Their fertility is also particularly good.”Another advantage of Mary’s Friesian herd is the fact that the male calves can be profitably reared for beef off grass, avoiding the problems of unwanted male dairy calves that can be faced by farmers of animals that have been bred exclusively for high milk yields.

And it’s not just breed that drives Mary. Her high welfare farm finally finished conversion to organic production with the opening of the Holt farm garden, meaning that no artificial fertilisers or pesticides are now used. But it’s not altruism alone that drove the change: “If the business case isn’t there, it simply isn’t feasible. “Thankfully,”she continues, “the commercial case stacks up. Yields have dropped slightly but are rising again as the cattle get used to a diet higher in forage. The cost of traditional oil-based fertilisers and pesticides is increasing for conventional farmers, improving our relative cost effectiveness.”With an ongoing trend towards rising global oil and grain prices, Mary believes there may even come a time when organic production is simply more cost effective than more intensive, high input systems. “In any event it is a truly more sustainable system.”

So what’s her secret for success? “Farming is about people first and foremost”, she says. “You need a vision, and the determination and knowledge to get things done. You’ve also got to be open-minded and do your research. The secret of farming lies in the soil and before we went organic, we took further advice and invested in an aerator for our heavy clay-rich land. This has helped tremendously.”

THE FUTURE FOR DAIRY FARMING

“Politicians say that they are concerned about feeding a growing population but dairying is very capital intensive. The threat of a change to CAP payments and the effect that quota removal will have makes for uncertainty. There are so many unknowns in farming. How can you budget accurately if you don’t know what your costs are going tobe? Furthermore since the demise of the milk marketing board, the industry has become fragmented with the result that margins have been squeezed so that many farms are now under invested. It is precisely because of this uncertainty that my husband felt we should be utilising our own milk and the idea of yogurt from Yeo Valley was born”

Despite her concerns, Mary is positive about the outlook for UK dairy farming. “We have the right climate in the UK, particularly in the West Country, with lots of rain to maximise pasture growth and reduce the costs of production.”

What seems to come through when speaking with Mary is the need to farm with the land, adapting approach and style to suit the conditions that nature has created. Mary is no starry-eyed idealist; she is keen to remind me that any system must be profitable as well as ethical or sustainable. However, I am struck once more by the contrast of Mary’s pragmatic long-term view with those who argue in favour of the short term techno-fix presented by factory farming.

OUT AND ABOUT

Before I leave, I get the opportunity to see the fabled British Friesian herd. The unmistakably rich smell of silage lingers in the air, and it is great to see the animals in their element. I’m inspired by Mary’s knowledge and enthusiasm, which make her such a good advocate for her industry (Mary also opens the farm up for school visits).

We need more people like her to help ensure a humane, environmentally sustainable and profitable dairy industry, both for us and for future generations.