'Ignorance' blamed for bid to block UK's biggest dairy

Peter Willes said the whole discussion on the planning application for the super dairy had been "dragged down by vegetarians and activists each with their own agenda".

These people were talking with little knowledge about dairy farming or animal welfare and they paid little attention to the details of the proposal which could see a 3,770 cow dairy herd located on a site at Nocton, Lincolnshire, he said.

"Sadly some of the objectors tend to get personal but I am more concerned that some people do not want to understand."

In his address to a dairy conference in Glasgow, Willes said he was encouraged by the UK coalition government's more positive attitude to food security but he was also critical of some politicians who he described as having a disappointingly poor understanding of modern dairy farming.

Even within the dairy sector there has been a division on how very large dairy farms will impact on the industry.

For the project, Willes - who already milks more than 2,000 cows from his base in Devon - has linked up with Lancashire-based David Barnes, who also milks in excess of 2,000 cattle.

Their chosen site in the east of England is far from the traditional dairy heartland which is in the wetter west. Part of the rationale for the location is that it is easier to bring the cattle to where the food is grown rather than vice versa.

But the other part is that Nocton Estate also provides the area of land that is required to back up such a scale of operation. "Basically, there are already too many cows in Devon and there was no way we could establish such a business in that area," said Willes.

He countered claims that large-scale dairy herds would have poorer animal welfare regimes by pointing out that the dairy would have full-time vets on site.

These would be among the 60 full-time jobs the dairy would create if the project gets planning permission, with the local council expected to give its verdict in the next couple of months.