Countryfile, Cows and Bluetongue - Its What Consumers Think that Counts

BBC’s Countryfile programmes shown on the last two Sundays should be leaving livestock farmers with a deep sense of unease about farming’s reputation with the general public.

The programme about Holstein cows gave statistics that up to 40% of cows are lame and a big proportion suffer from mastitis, and said that these numbers are among the highest in the world. It also claimed, erroneously as it happens, that most cows never see a blade of grass in their lives. Although the indoor cows shown were clearly in good health, the average viewer would have taken away a message that dairy cow welfare standards are low. Those moving on to the RSPCA website were presented with the thought that inbreeding in Holsteins is worse than pedigree dogs, a topic which has commanded bad headlines of late. All in all, between Countryfile and the RSPCA there was enough to make consumers question, at least fleetingly, whether British dairy farmers deserve unqualified admiration.

The programme about bluetongue was a far less overt attack on farming standards. There were no words criticising a decision not to vaccinate. But by showing graphic footage of very sick animals with bluetongue in conjunction with an explanation that the costs were too high for most farmers, the implied message was clear – most English and Welsh farmers are too penny pinching to vaccinate and ensure their animals do not suffer.

Why the unease. Well, part of it is a personal belief on the part of many farmers that animal welfare practices should be exemplary.

Regardless of personal concerns, programmes about cows in pain from lameness or mastitis, and pictures of shaking sheep too ill to lift their heads because they are not vaccinated will shock consumers. They reinforce old stereotypes about uncaring farmers just at a time when the general public had come to view British farming in a much better light - to the extent that the big supermarkets are having to procure more and more British produce, because that’s what their shoppers want, and big companies like Dairy Crest are using Johnny Rotten to advertise that their Countrylife butter is British, upsetting the Kiwis in the process.

Its not just about reputation. Economics come into it too. If the public feels no empathy with British farming then the retailers are off the hook, and can buy wherever they want, probably cheaper. And farmgate prices drop further.

It’s ironic that the Countryfile/ RSPCA onslaught has come at a time when many dairy farmers are thinking of leaving the industry, with the result that milk may need to be imported. Not much of a threat if the public feels that British farmers have no better standards than the rest, and so won’t care where their daily pinta comes from.

Whilst the dairy industry went into defence overdrive regarding dairy cow welfare, academic and practical literature on the subjects reveal the sad facts that mastitis rates regularly reach 30% and often much higher, and lameness hovers around the 30% level.These figures might be better than they were but they are still grim. So far the broader press have not picked up either the dairy or the bluetongue issues, but it is only a matter of time. Indeed Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall is rumoured to be preparing a programmme on dairy cattle.

At the end of the day, the farming industry has to realise that an increased interest by consumers in where their food comes from comes with increased demand for the highest standards. Couple this with a vocal media, and access to detailed information about everything via the internet, and there is no place to hide sub standard performance.