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2. The Milk
Despite the widespread uses of images of cows in fields, labels on
milk tell you very little about the farms your milk comes from and
the life that the cows actually have. Traditional british dairy farms
are disappearing from the landscape at an alarming rate, to be re-
placed by larger, more intensive operations where cows are some-
times confined indoors all year round.
We have consulted with farmers to produce a simple set of stand-
ards that are acheivable on farms, to give cows the kind of life you
would want them to have. The free range dairy network licenses
the pasture promise logo to dairy companies and farmers to pro-
vide you with a simple assurance that the milk comes from cows
that enjoy the freedom to graze in fields for at least six months of
the year.
The cows are not fed a 100% grass diet but, like organic farms
there is a requirement for a minumum of 60% of the diet to be
made up of forage. During the summer months the cows graze
lush green grass and in
winter the diet is founded on grass conserved as silage and hay.
There is increasing evidence to show that milk from grass is lower
in saturated fat and higher in healthy fats like Conjugated Linoleic
Acid and Omega 3.
Unlike the big dairies and supermarkets that mix milk from differ-
ent kinds of farms, the small dairy companies we work with collect
milk from approved free range dairy herds using dedicated tankers
and keep it segregated from other milk at the dairy. By choosing
milk bearing the pasture promise label, you can help us to keep
cows in fields where they belong and reward farmers for produc-
ing healthy nutritious milk that delivers real value for you and your
family.

3. The Cows
It is estimated that around 300,000 of dairy cows in the U.K never
go outside and more and more herds have only limited access to
grazing. But cows work hard for us, getting up early every day to
produce milk and we think they deserve something in return. We
consider grazing to be a fundamental natural expression for dairy
cows and want to secure them the freedom to roam in fields in the
spring and summer months.
People already tell us they want to be able to choose milk from
cows in fields and we know that freedom for cows and other
farm animals is important to them. We want to win a fair deal for
farmers, cows and consumers. But right now, milk labels do not
tell you how much time cows spend outdoors. You will see wide-
spread use of imaes and cows in fields, supermarkets and on
dairy packaging. This creates a perception that all cows live the
kind of life you would expect.
Grass is a cheap, nutritious food for dairy cows and they turn it
into healthy milk with high levels of omega 3 and other healthy
fats. Keeping cows indoors all year round is an expensive busi-
ness, which means cows are under greater pressure to deliver
high milk yields. We promote a farming system that is not reliant
on the relentless pursuit of high yields and gives cows something
more akin to the life that nature intended.
Under Free Range Dairy standards, farmers are permitted to
house their cows in winter because they are often better off. The
grass stops growing in winter and it gets wet and muddy in the
fields. We also follow farmers to apply for a derogation to tem-
porarily house their cows during the grazing season, if extreme
weather events threaten to compromise the health and welfare of
the herd.