TREW FARMING STANDARDS

introduction to trew farming standards

Although no two Trewithen Dairy farms are the same, all our farmers share a common set of values and comply with a comprehensive set of standards that ensure high levels of animal health, welfare and husbandry.

For our farmers, the welfare of their animals is one of their biggest concerns. First and foremost, this is because they care about them, but they also understand that the health & happiness of their cows is a vital part of the financial success of any dairy farm and its long-term sustainability.

From Trewithen’s point of view, we share our farmers’ commitment to continuous improvement in the area of animal health and welfare. As such, we are determined to work with and support them, to ensure that their on-farm practices and performance levels meet the expectations of our customers and ultimately those who consume our products. In doing so, we believe this will generate better and more sustainable supply chains; enhance customer & consumer loyalty and ultimately allow us to continue to pay our farmers a premium price for their milk.

We call this approach to animal health and welfare Trew Farming – it’s what we and our farmers believe in and do every day of the year.

our trew farming commitment

It goes without saying that all Trewithen Dairy farmers must be fully Red Tractor Farm Assured. The Red Tractor Scheme covers food safety, animal welfare and environmental care and requires that every farm is independently audited on a regular basis.

In developing our own Trew Farming standards and initiatives we have gone above and beyond the requirements of Red Tractor and central to this has been a commitment to delivering upon the ‘Five Freedoms’ as stated by the Animal Welfare Committee (previously FAWC). These are:

• Freedom from Hunger and Thirst – ready access to fresh water and a diet to maintain full health and vigour
• Freedom from Discomfort – by providing an appropriate environment, including shelter and comfortable resting area
• Freedom from Pain, Injury or Disease – by prevention or rapid diagnosis and treatment
• Freedom to Express Normal Behaviour – by providing sufficient space, proper facilities and company of the animals’ own kind
• Freedom from Fear and Distress – by ensuring conditions and treatments which avoid mental suffering

Trew Farming therefore requires our farmers to commit to meeting higher level farm standards and initiatives across a range of on-farm practices and animal health, husbandry and welfare areas.

OUR TREW COMMITMENT TO GRAZING

Our farmers are encouraged to provide their cows with pasture access, whenever weather and growing conditions permit. Indeed, from April 2019 all Trewithen Dairy farms have been required to provide their herds with grazing for a minimum of 120 days per year, for at least 4 hours a day.

Many of our farmers already exceeded this minimum grazing requirement, but to ensure that all comply with the new standard, now and in the future, it is being independently audited as an extension to the existing annual Red Tractor audit.

our trew commitment to happy cornish cows!

Our farmers care passionately about the health and happiness of their cows. Indeed, they know that the healthier their cows are, the happier they will be and in turn the higher the quantity & quality of milk they will produce.

To monitor and understand how to improve further their herds’ health, all Trewithen Dairy farmers must fully participate in a comprehensive Herd Health Monitoring Programme.

Overseen by leading dairy farm advisers, Map of Ag, this comprises the monitoring of the health and well-being of all cows across 14 key health metrics. From the start of 2019 the inputs into the Herd Health Monitor have been independently audited as an extension to the existing Red Tractor audit. The latest results from the Monitor highlight that currently all Trewithen Dairy herds are in the top 25% of herds nationally for all 14 areas measured – something that we and they are very proud of. Nevertheless, we aren’t sitting on our laurels, and we are determined to keep on improving.

OUR TREW COMMITMENT TO REDUCING THE USE OF ANTIBIOTICS

The responsible use of antibiotics in animals can cure, control and, in some circumstances, prevent disease. However, it has been clearly identified that their overuse in both humans and animals is leading to antimicrobial resistance (AMR) – and more particularly, antibiotic resistance – and therefore presents a major threat to human health. As part of the Government’s ‘One Health’ strategy for tackling AMR in people, animals and the environment, the medical, veterinary and agricultural professions have been tasked with reducing unnecessary and inappropriate usage of antibiotics.

Since 2017 Trewithen Dairy farmers have been fully participating in an all year- round antibiotic monitoring programme. Run by Solway Vets, a leader in the field, the programme seeks to benchmark the use of antibiotics on each farm, reduce their total use and eliminate the use of ‘critical’ antibiotics.

Trewithen Dairy Farmers remain determined to do more to improve reduced antibiotic usage on farm and in conjunction with Map of Ag, Solway Vets and their own local vets this is being achieved whilst maintaining the health of their cows. To mark this determination, prophylactic use of antibiotics on farms, unless prescribed by a vet, ended as of 2020.

In addition to reducing the overall use of antibiotics, Trewithen Dairy and its farmers are committed to eliminating the potential for milk from cows being treated with antibiotics entering the dairy supply chain.

From a Trewithen point of view, this is being addressed through keeping awareness levels high, among our farmers and their staff, of the need to ensure that milk from cows being treated with antibiotics does not find its way into the supply chain. In addition, we test every consignment of milk collected from farms to identify any antibiotic failures; impose fines for any such failures and automatically require any farmer that does have a failure to take part in the MilkSure education programme in conjunction with their vet.

OUR TREW COMMITMENT TO REARING BULL CALVES ETHICALLY

While many of our farmers raise their cattle for both milk and beef, others specialise solely in dairy farming. For the latter, the rearing of a male bull calf that will not enter the dairy herd can be a challenge from an economic, ethical and emotional point of view.

It is important to note that the majority of our farmers already rear their bull calves on-farm for beef

or sell them on to third party beef rearers. Whilst, over a half of our farmers are also using sexed semen to reduce the number of bull calves born.

Nevertheless, as part of the Trew Farming Standard, all Trewithen farmers are committed to ensuring:

• That no calf born on a Trewithen farm is wasted and that all are reared to enter the food chain;
• And that, whether male or female, all calves are treated to the same high welfare standards until they leave the farm.
  

For the avoidance of doubt, this means no healthy bull calves will be shot on a Trewithen farm. While moving forward, we will continue working as a group to identify

and adopt relevant practices & partnerships in pursuit of attaining the best welfare and ethics for all calves born onto Trewithen farms.

TREW COMMITMENT TO CONTINUOUS DEVELOPMENT

At Trewithen Dairy we are immensely proud of the farmers that supply their milk to us. They are, we believe, some of the country’s very best dairy farmers and we regard them as being a key element in the success of our business. Indeed, their willingness and ability to work on the development and delivery of the Trew Farming approach to animal health and welfare and the quality of the milk they produce is testament to this.

However, we and they recognise that we can’t stand still with regards to animal health and welfare and as such are committed to continuous improvement both in terms of delivering against our existing farm standards and in addressing new areas.

With regards to the latter, our farmers are very conscious of being stewards of the land on which they farm for today’s and future generations. As such, we and they will be considering how we can further minimise our environmental impact on farm particularly in relation to reducing our carbon footprint, optimising the use of materials & energy and reducing wastage.

At the heart of this are profitable and sustainable farm businesses, able to continually invest in practices and technology to improve animal health and welfare, whilst reducing our total environmental impact. In support of this, Trewithen Dairy commit to paying an above average milk price and facilitating best practice and knowledge sharing.