Havingonlyjustreturnedfromanexcellenttripto

Lithuania,Inowfeelmuchmoreappeasedwhenthinking
ofthefutureofthedairysector.
ThereasonforvisitingLithuaniabeingthatmyselfand2
otheryoungdairyfarmersfromtheUK,ClaireHowlettand
MartinKearneycouldattendthe2015WorldDairy
Summit. Claire,MartinandIwerekindlysupportedby
AHDBDiarytoattend. Theworlddairysummithappens
onceeveryyearandgathersDairyIndustryexpertstospeak
infrontofacollectivegroupofpeopleinterestedinthe
dairysectorworldwide. TheConferenceisdevelopedasa
platformforeveryonewithintheindustrytodiscussissues
ofinterestandlearnfromeachother. Theeventis
structuredtoenableopenexchangeofideasandexperience
onissuesaffectingthedairyvaluechain. Theindustry
expertsattendingadviseeveryoneonthelatest
developments,thebiggestrisksandrewardsandwherethey
believetheindustryisgoing. Theconferencethisyearwas
particularlyinterestingduetothecurrentglobalissues.
Thefirstdayoftheconferencekickedinwithlotsofeye
openingstatistics
Theworldisonamassivepopulationgrowthand
expectationsareforanincreaseof1.7BILLIONpeoplein
thenext1015years

Currently795MILLIONpeoplegotobedhungryatnight,
161millionarechildren
Majorityofthesepeopleareactuallyfarmers
Wewasteapproximately1/3ofallfoodthatweproduce
internationally
Thereare1BILLIONfarmersglobally(that's1in7people)
Weneed60BILLIONlitresperyearmorein2030thanwe
didin2012tofeedourgrowingworld
Weneedtoincreasetheselitresbutalsocutbackon
environmental,socialandeconomicdisruption.
DuringtheconferenceIactuallybelieveIlearnedmoreUK
relevantinformationoutoftheclassroomthaninit.Ispoke
tomanybackgroundsofpeoplefromdifferentpartsofthe
worldFrance,Australia,Germany,NewZealand,
Holland,CanadaandUSA.Theonethingthatreally
surprisedmewastheirsupportforfarmersfroma
governmentandprocessorlevel.PeopleIspoketotoldme
abouttheirstrategiesofhelpingtheirfarmersandhowthey
wereworkingwiththemtodotheirbesttoensureeveryone
inthesupplychainsurvives.Itwasacompletecontrastto
whatwehaveintheUK!Twopeopleevenmadearemark
thattheUKisarolemodelof'whatnottodo!'.Iaskedas
muchadviceasIcouldandIfullybelieveourissuescanbe
rectified.I'mnotsayingeveryothercountryaredoing
thingscorrectlyastherearestillfarmerscomingoutof
productionduetomilkprice,butthebenefitthatappearsto
becommonisgoodcommunicationandworkingtogether!

IFULLYbelievethatcommunicationiskingevenmore
importantthanagoodmilkpriceinfact.Weallknowthat
milkisnowavolitivecommodityanditwillremainthis
way,butifwehavegoodcommunicationandtransparent
pricesfromthetopofthechaintothebottomthenwecan
planforpeaksandtroughsinthemarket,thereforeallowing
ustomakedecisionsthatwillallowourindustrytosurvive
introughsandthriveinpeaks!
Obviouslythiswasnottheonlythingthatwentonatthe
conference.Manyothertopicswerediscussed.Thenext
thingIfoundparticularlyinterestingwasregarding
antibioticresistanceandtheeffectsoftheoveruseof
antibioticsintheindustry.Antibioticresistanceincattleis
becomingagrowingandalarmingissue.Manyongoing
testsandreportsarebeingdoneonthisinternationally,
however,Iwassurprisedtolearnthatdairyisnotyetan
enormouscontributortoantibioticresistanceinhumans
thepoultryandpigindustrycontributefarmoretothis
issue,infactinAmericaalone,23,000peoplediedand2
millionpeopleweresickenedlastyearbecauseofresistance
toantibiotics.Thismeansthatalthoughwearenotamajor
contributoryet,wemustactasanindustrytomanagethe
issueassoonaspossible.Youwillhearalotaboutthis
overthenextfewyearsandalotmorerecordingwillbe
requiredatfarmandvetlevel.
Theburningissueoftheconference........RUSSIAandthe
embargo!!!!

InalmosteverysessionRussiawasdiscussed,wehad
RussiananalyststellinguslifeinRussiawasnowrosyand
theshelveswerefull,wehadEuropeananalyststellingus
thepopulationisbeingforcedtoeatcheesemadeusing
vegetablefatsandpoorqualitymilkiftheycouldgetit.
ThemainpointsofwhatItookhomeatleastwerethat
RussiaisnotexpectingtoreopenherdoortoEUproducts
againuntilatleast2018buttheembargowasperhapsnot
affectingusasbadlyaswefirstthoughtWewereona
worldpricedeclinebeforeRussiahituswiththeembargo
andtheaffectithadonworldpriceswasactuallynota
greatoneandonly3%oftotalEUproductionthisyearbut
EUexportsofcheesehaverisenby19%tononRussian
destinations.
Personally,myfavouriteeventsweretoseehowother
nationsaremanagingtheirdomesticmarketing.Thereare
LOADSofinteresting,funny,informativeanddirect
marketingideasthatothercountriesuseandIhavealready
postedsomeoftheonthe'AyrshireFarmersforChange'
Facebookpagegocheckthemout!
ChinaandUSAareusingQRcodesonalloftheirdairy
produce,thisallowstheconsumertousetheqrcodewith
theirsmartphonetoseeexactlywherethemilkcamefrom.
Australiahasacampaigncalled'LEGENDAIRY',thisisa
campaignpaidbythefarmersthroughtheirlevypayments
topromotegenericmarketingofmilkanditisprovingvery
successful.(LinkonFacebookpage)

SouthAfricaisdoingatremendouscampaignusing
YouTubeandnationalTV
Germanyhas'cowtube'aplatformsimilartoYouTubebut
onlyvideostakenbyfarmersgoonit
Lithuaniahasa'cowsarecool'campaignwherebytheir
nationalbasketballteampromotetheirindustryandmodel
cowsareplacedaroundthemainpartsofmajortownsand
cities,decoratedindifferentcoloursanddesigns
USAhavea'GotMilk'campaignthatusesinteresting
advertstogettheattentionoftheconsumer
IfeltthatthisissomethingtheUKcouldabsolutelybenefit
fromandIdoalsoknowthatmanyotherfarmerssharethis
belief.IfeelthatsomeofourLevyshouldbeused,in
conjunctionwithavailablefundingfromtheEU(whichis
available)todoagooddomesticcampaignforus.I
broughtthissubjectupwitheveryUKrepresentativeI
couldgettotalktoDairyUK,AHDB,DairyCouncil
andtheyallsaidthereisn'tenoughmoney.Idon'tbelieve
that,IbelievethatifEVERYONEinourindustryworked
together,withgoodcommunicationandtransparency,then
wecouldgetsomeexcellentmarketingdonewehave
alreadyproveditbyclearingsupermarketshelvesina
peacefulmanner,puttingupsignsonourfarmsand
promotingRedTractorassurancewherewecanandwe
arejustthefarmersandfarmsuppliers,manymorepeople
andbusinessescangetinvolvediftheygettheirfingerout
theirbackside!
AsDrMikeJohnstonesaid
Marketingiscommunication

Communicationisforthecustomer
Thecustomeristhesourceofrevenue
Revenuesupportsbusiness
Nomarketingnocommunicationnocustomerno
revenuenobusiness
Inshortmarketinggeneratesrevenue.
Therewerehundredsofothertopicsdiscussedduringthe
weekanditwouldtakemeafurtherweektowriteupwhat
wasdiscussedsoifanyonewouldlikeanyfurther
informationonitpleasejustcallmeon07854327087.
IwouldliketothankAHDBDairyfortheopportunity,it
hascertainlyopenedupmyeyesoftheglobalindustryand
asIsaidbeforeIfullybelievetheUKmustfollowothersin
communication,transparencyandmarketing.Wehavea
greatopportunitylet'smakethemostofitandgoforward,
together.