You may have heard about recent proposals to build a new 8,000 cow dairy unit on land in Lincolnshire. This high profile project by Nocton Dairies Ltd will see a new herd of 8,100 cows established on a greenfield site, with cows housed apart from during the dry period and fed with forage and by-products from the surrounding area.

A bold proposal for sure but is this kind of intensive development good for the industry or will it simply draw negative attention that will ultimately harm the reputation of the whole sector?

Undoubtedly Nocton Dairies are not proposing anything wrong. There are plenty of herds where milking cows are continuously housed and there are many in the industry that would advocate this as a high welfare system because cows can be closely monitored and cared for. But this kind of approach does not necessarily chime well with consumers, who like to think of dairy farming as a pastoral enterprise with cows happily grazing. Already, emotive media coverage has spoken of ‘large scale factory farming’ in the same breath as ‘Nocton Dairies’.

But in fact their proposals are commercially sound and cow welfare should be exemplary, particularly when a full time vet will be on site – something that not many dairy units can lay claim to. The proposed development also has the potential to be a flagship for the dairy industry, something that other dairy farmers can learn from and be proud to be associated with.

Ultimately, one thing is for certain – this kind of enterprise will have a high profile and will attract attention towards dairy farming in a more direct way than we have perhaps ever seen before. The development therefore carries a huge reputational responsibility unlike that ever seen before on a UK farm. If Nocton Dairies is a successful business, with good welfare and performance standards then it will represent the very best of our dairy industry. But, should things go wrong, the problems will be hugely visible and this could have implications for every single farmer in the country. The public’s ignorance about farming may also be a threat and Nocton will have to be open and communicative to the public to garner support.

It will be interesting to see these exciting proposals develop in the coming months – for it is perhaps the first farming enterprise in this country where every farmer has a vested interest in it being successful.

The European Commission has announced a new logo that will become obligatory on all pre-packaged organic products produced within the EU from July 1, 2010. The ‘euro-leaf’ logo (pictured) was chosen following an online competition that saw some 130,000 people voting, and is intended to become an easy way for consumers to quickly identify organic products.

As pressure to reduce carbon emissions from the food chain increases, a recent report adds weight to the theory that this can only be achieved through more intensive agricultural and horticultural production. The ‘How low can we go?’ report, commissioned by WWF and the Food Climate Research Network, suggests that we can only meet carbon emission targets by making the industry more efficient, using more technology, reducing waste and minimising the carbon involved in food production, manufacturing and transport.

As Britain deals with a prolonged cold snap, some commentators are starting to suggest that basic foodstuffs may end up in short supply or prices may start to rise. Already in some hard-hit areas groceries such as milk and fresh seasonal vegetables are in short supply as farmers struggle to get their produce harvested and away from the farm. And shops are also becoming short of stock as consumers ‘panic buy’ in case the weather keeps them at home. Industry experts are attempting to reassure consumers that products will remain available to discourage panic buying and maintain supplies but have not ruled out price rises if the weather continues…

The government has launched its first major food policy document in more than fifty years in which it sets out its vision for the UK food system in 2030.

The report, entitled ‘Food 2030’ was launched by Defra Secretary, Hilary Benn MP, at the Oxford Farming Conference on January 5, and has been widely welcomed by the farming industry. It focuses on securing food supplies to meet growing demand whilst protecting and enhancing the environment.

The document paints a picture of an industry where consumers have a choice of healthy sustainable UK-produced food and where UK farmers are profitable, competitive and resilient. The report also envisages an agricultural industry that makes a significant contribution to rural communities whilst being a global leader in food sustainability.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, Food 2030 also focuses on carbon, aiming for the UK to have a low carbon food system with waste being reused, recycled or used for energy generation.

Undoubtedly this document paints a positive picture for the food industry moving forward. But, as always, the devil is in the detail – it will be interesting to see how this new vision translates into policy in the coming years.

Following weeks of protests by dairy farmers across Europe the EU has announced a €280 million package to boost the dairy sector. Yet as soon as the package of support was announced, the UK government criticised the move, suggesting that it was going to slow down the necessary process of CAP reform and claiming it would support inefficient milk production.

Figures released by DEFRA show that average farm business income for all farm types was slightly higher in 2008/09 at £50,900 compared to £48,200 in 2007/08. This reflects firmer prices during the year for a range of commodities, particularly pigmeat, lamb and beef and to a lesser extent milk. Farmers also saw an increase in the value of their single farm payment due to a more favourable exchange rate compared to the previous year.

Of the individual farm types, specialist pig farms, grazing livestock farms and dairy farms all saw modest increases in income, whilst cereal farms, poultry farms and horticultural units saw a small decline in income.

Recent figures released from TNS show that apple sales are falling due to increased competition from other fruits. In the year to May sales fell 3.2% whilst sales of peaches, apricots and cherries all increased.