Vertically Integrated Milk - How Some Yorkshire Dairy Farmers are Increasing Their Profit Margins

Many of us will have heard of the plight of British dairy farmers who over recent years have been victims of the way the dairy industry is constructed and wider world pressures.

Milk may seem cheap to the consumers with supermarkets using milk as a loss leader, selling it for less than the cost of spring water. Yet it costs some 30p a litre to produce and some farmers only receiving 15 p per litre. Many farmers are losing money on every litre of milk they produce and therefore are leaving the industry.

Other factors which are outside the control of farmers include currency exchange rates, and low price milk imports which impact on the cost of production and the price farmers receive.

British dairy farmers are not alone in this problem with similar issues of low prices being reported in Australia.

Some retailers are putting in place pricing mechanisms that support their farmers and pay a price above the cost of production – these include Tesco, Sainsburys, the Co-operative, Waitrose and Marks and Spencer.

A number of farmers are also developing ways to increase how much they are paid for their milk by vertically integrating the diary business; by integrating production, processing, bottling and distribution of milk in one business.

One farmer Jeremy Holmes of Delph House Farm near Denby Dale (HD8 8XY) for example has installed a milk vending machine. This enables him to sell raw unpasteurised milk direct to customer cutting out the processors and supermarkets and enables him to be paid a higher price for his milk. Although the milk is triple filtered, it’s not pasteurised, a process which kills off bacteria in milk.  It’s therefore not suitable for consumption by people with low immunity or pregnant women and babies.

Another farming family, the Goodalls, from Scarcroft near Leeds (LS14 3HQ) have for a number of years not only been dairy farmers, they have also been processing their milk including pasteurisation, homogenisation and bottling. This they sell direct to customers via a door step delivery service; which covers north Leeds and villages between Leeds, Harrogate, Knaresborough, and Tadcaster including the town of Wetherby.

The Goodalls are also investing in the latest technology which includes robotic milking machines which milk the cows in the fields and they proudly displayed this equipment along with their cows at the 2016 Great Yorkshire Show.

If you or friends want to support our British Dairy farmers then look out for the Red Tractor symbol on the dairy products you purchase and where possible purchase direct from a farmer who is geared up to retailing their milk.

Yorkshire Farms that sell milk direct to the public include:

Delph House Farm Denby Dale High Flatts, Denby Dale, Huddersfield, HD8 8XY    01226 762 551

Beech Grove Farm, Scarcroft, Leeds, LS14 3HQ     0113 2892229

Longley Farm  Holmfirth, HD9 2JD  01484 684151

Town Head Farm, Grassington, Skipton BD23 5BL  01756 752 296

Town Head Farm, Askrigg, North Yorkshire, DL8 3HH   01969-650325

Brymor High Jervaulx, Masham, Ripon, HG4 4PG

Lyon House Farm Lyon Road, Eastburn, Keighley, West Yorkshire BD20 8UX

Dean House Farm, Luddenden, West Yorkshire, HX2 6TP      01422 882 234

Old Crib Farm Old Crib, Halifax, West Yorkshire HX2 6JJ       01422 883 285

Heath Lea Farm, Barkisland, Halifax, HX4 0BZ         01422 823 201

Dyson Cote Farm, Snowden Hill, Oxspring, Sheffield S36 8YR  07788 477 825

Cliffe House Farm, Hill Top Road, Dungworth, Sheffield, S6 6GW   0114 233 3697

Lawns Farm, Morthen, Rotherham, South Yorkshire, S66 9JH    01709 700 788

For a Map of farms elsewhere in the country selling milk direct to the public see HERE

If you are a farmer who is selling milk direct to the public please send me your details and I will add you to the list. 

You may also find my blog on: Cows, Cattle Breeds Milk Proteins & Enjoying Milk on Breakfast Cereals, after a Sixteen Year Gap of interest.