This article from Mark Robins, Milk Pool Chairman, Marks and Spencer, originally appeared in ‘Dairy: A Green Future’, which is available online here.
Mark Robins ... "In dairying in particular, it is very easy to become a ‘busy fool’"
Dairy farming is a tough, relentless job which requires day-to-day commitment from those working on the farm with little time for a break, let alone time to reflect on where their business or dairy enterprise is going or why.
In dairying in particular, it is very easy to become a ‘busy fool’, tied to the cows and their need for daily routine without stopping to take stock.
The LEAF Audit offers you the chance to do just that: take stock. It gives the dairy farmer a usable template to review his business to discover what is being doing well and uncover what deserves attention and improvement. The LEAF Marque is a food label consumers and the food industry trusts.
As our consumers become more remote and distant from understanding how their food is produced, it is increasingly important to offer them reassurance that what we are doing is done with passion, is right and proper and something we do with pride.
LEAF has been championing the benefits of Integrated Farm Management for 20 years now. Traditionally viewed as an organistaion exclusively for arable or produce growers, it has been working hard to encourage livestock producers to get more involved. I urge you to do so.
About the Author
Mark Robins has been Estate Manager of the Farley Farms Estate (a privately owned 1,750 acre diversified rural Estate situated just south of Reading) since 2002. He has been representing Dairy Crest dairy producers since 1998 and has been M&S National Milk Pool Chair since April 2009, having previously been an M&S English Pool Rep for a number of years.
He sits on the Institute of Agricultural Management (IAgM) ‘Farm Management’ journal committee; is the Berkshire Local Director of the NFU Mutual and sits on various local committees representing farmers and the rural sector.
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