Inspiring The Next Generation of Dairy Entrepreneurs

The average age of dairy farmers is steadily rising while the number of producers is shrinking. This trend poses a serious challenge for the industry and highlights the need to attract, inspire, and enable the next generation of dairy entrepreneurs.

On my Nuffield Farming Scholarship, I set out to share the stories of entrepreneurial dairy farmers who have built rewarding businesses and careers. Over my decade in the industry, from farm assistant to contract farmer, I have witnessed both challenges and opportunities for new entrants. Too often, the prevailing narrative is negative “I wouldn’t want to be starting out these days.” “There’s no money to be made in dairy farming, it’s too tough.” “The milk price is too low, supermarkets are screwing us.” “If only the Milk Marketing Board was still around, those were the days.”

Yet many of those voicing such views were also buying land, driving good cars, and investing heavily. My natural sense of curiosity wanted to find out whether dairy farming could provide a good living if done well. Let me be clear; this report does not claim that dairy is a licence to print money, but explores what it takes to be reasonably successful and how it can offer both livelihood and fulfilment. To do this I travelled the UK, Ireland, New Zealand, China, Chile, and North America to meet accomplished dairy entrepreneurs, learn how they started, and gather their advice. Key challenges include access to capital, succession, volatility, and mental health, but I also saw inspiring progress, from reviving rundown dairies to scaling large businesses.

My aim is not to present dairy as easy, but to show what is possible and inspire young people to view it as a rewarding career. Alongside this, I explored entrepreneurship more broadly, the mindset, risks, and realities, far removed from the quick-fix illusions promoted online.

My mission statement was simple: 

To give inspiration to new entrants in the dairy industry as to what can be achieved and how to get there. Also, to attempt to breathe confidence into dairy businesses and landowners that collaborative farming if executed correctly is a ‘win-win’ result.