Right, this is probably the most important episode I've done yet. And I'm not exaggerating.
I've had farmers - I couldn't tell you how many - sending me videos of them pouring thousands of litres of milk down the drain. Not a few hundred litres. Massive amounts. And every single one of them has said the same thing: \"Please don't mention my name. Keep it anonymous.\"
That's when I realised - dairy farmers are absolutely shit scared of their processors. Scared of losing their contracts. Scared of losing their businesses. That's no way to run an industry.
So I'm sitting down with four dairy farmers who aren't scared to tell the truth: Kelly Seaton (first-generation farmer, Shropshire/Cheshire border), Jack Allwood (milking 1000 cows and running Mootrition vended milk), Diarmaid MacColgain (founder of Concept Dairy pricing platform), and Andrew Wright from Farm Theory.
And did they tell me everything.
We're talking about:
• Why milk prices have collapsed (35 million extra litres globally every single day)
• Why 55 farms had NO milk collection from Christmas Eve to New Year
• The stranglehold processors and supermarkets have over farmers
• Why the carbon audit agenda is being called \"the biggest fucking scam ever\"
• What's really wrong with the NFU and why farmers need better representation
• How political change could actually save British dairy farming
This episode pulls no punches. There's strong language. There's controversial opinions. But this is the honest conversation the dairy industry desperately needs to have - the one processors and supermarkets don't want you to hear.
If you drink milk, eat cheese, or care about British farming, you need to listen to this.
Follow me on social media @garethwynjonesfarmer
A Jet Pod Production
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