Cartoning organic mili proved the bests' way forward

摘要

Installing an on-farm cartoning plant gives organic producers Will and Pam Best a degree of stability in a growing market - and a premium for their milk. Manor Farm's lOOha, at Godmanstone, in Dorset, have been organically managed for the past 10 years, "We didn't like the way farming was becoming dependent on chemicals and decided there had to be another way," says Will, whose 85-strong Holstein Friesian herd received the organic symbol in 1988. As there was no apparent market at the time, the milkwas sold to the MMB, but in October 1989 they were offered a premium by Unigate in Totnes, Devon. The dairy bottled and delivered organic milk to doorsteps in the county. When sales developed, they came to Will for more milk and paid him an extra l.Spplover the MMB -a premium which eventually rose to 4ppl, but sales didn't continue to grow as hoped and this arrangement only lasted for a year.