As a dairy vet, I meet a lot of dairy farmers. There are two topics of conversation which punctuate my days: the weather (of course!) and the price of milk. Well, that's not quite true - when the price is good, as it has been for nearly all of 2025, and for a good chunk of 2024 beforehand, strangely enough the subject is never mentioned! But as soon as there's a dip, it unleashes a barrage of misery and despair. "We are price takers, not price makers" and "Bloody supermarkets are ruining the...

CowSignals is an approach to observing dairy herds that I have enjoyed using for many years. The idea is that it helps us to identify areas for improvement, and to apply the best principles of dairy farming which will benefit the cows, the people who care for them and the planet. I was recently invited onto the ChewinTheCud Podcast by Andrew Jones, to discuss CowSignals with Jo Speed. The three of us are all CowSignals Master trainers and have recently helped deliver a series of farmer...

That's a pretty hefty claim, but to what extent is it true? Last week I met a wonderful couple from America, Bob and Brie, and they were...