World Milk Day celebrates sustainability in the dairy sector

Consumers are being urged to raise a nutritious glass of milk today to celebrate World Milk Day – an annual event started in 2001 by the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the UN nations.

This year, the theme is sustainability in the dairy sector, with messages around the environment, nutrition and socio-economics.

Organisers are encouraging videos from farmers and others who are embracing technology to help create a low-carbon future for dairy. Videos can be shared on social media or to milkday@emergingag.com

Speaking from his Pembrokeshire dairy farm, Dai Miles, vice president of Farming Union Wales said: “We are calling on everybody to celebrate and drink milk on June 1st. There are so many benefits of including milk and dairy in our lives – nutritionally, economically and environmentally.”

Milk is the fifth largest provider of energy and the third largest provider of protein and fat for humans. A glass of milk contains 41 per cent of the daily recommended iodine intake, 31 per cent calcium and 14 per cent protein.

“Milk is an important source of healthy nutrients including calcium, magnesium, zinc, phosphorus, iodine, iron, potassium, folates, vitamin A, vitamin D, riboflavin, vitamin B12, protein and fat. It’s a food product that’s sustainably produced across Welsh and UK farms and I encourage you to include it in your diet,” Mr Miles added.

Commenting on animal welfare concerns he said: “Our dairy farmers comply with some of the highest regulations on animal health and welfare, as well as environmental standards. Consumers can rest assured that milk from Wales has been produced sustainably and with the environment in mind.”

Dairy UK is raising awareness of the dairy sector’s ability to convert non-edible grass into nutritious food, using manure as a natural fertiliser for arable crops and to replenish grass and soil with essential nutrients – and even create renewable energy. The organisation also highlights dairy farmers’ role in protecting the UK’s iconic green pastures, which provide invaluable habitats for British wildlife and offer an important store of carbon dioxide, helping to combat climate change. 

Reasons for optimism but questions remain

NFU Scotland’s milk committee chair and dairy farmer Gary Mitchell said that while the past 12 months have been a difficult time at farm gate level, ‘green shoots of optimism are showing’. 

Many milk buyers have recently announced price increases for the forthcoming months, but Mr Mitchell said that several questions still need to be answered regarding the future of the industry in the UK.

‘The UK average farm-gate milk price for April 2021 was 29.15 pence per litre, a price which I know a number of farmers in Scotland were not receiving,’ he wrote in a recent blog. ‘And what is even more concerning is the fact that the gap between the lowest and highest paid is now very significant and showing no signs of narrowing.  

‘When you throw into the mix the latest data from AHDB around the full economic cost of production, you begin to see that all is not rosy at farm gate level for many in Scotland.’

Additionally, in January 2021, dairy herd figures for Scotland, released by the Scottish Dairy Cattle Association, highlighted a decrease in cow numbers and dairy herds with a net loss of 36 herds and 2,152 fewer cows compared to January 2020. In Scotland, there are now 843 dairy herds, nearly 7,000 less than 50 years ago.

‘If we all want to be able to celebrate World Milk Day in the future, these figures and statistics will need to change,’ he concluded.

On a more positive note, the Scottish government recently pledged to develop a fully-funded free school milk scheme. In addition, earlier this year a new Milk and Healthy Snack Scheme was set up to fund a daily serving of milk and a healthy snack for pre-school children.

NFUS urges dairy farmers to take today’s opportunity to share positive stories about the industry, as they do on every other day.