A BAILDON dairy farm has led the way in trying to bring about a resurgence of the milkman.

Stephen and Rachel Coates, who run Low Springs Farm, held an event to encourage a renaissance in milkmen delivering to households in the Bradford district and beyond by using free range milk.

The event at the Coates’ farm was also held to encourage the Freedom free-range milk, under the Pasture Promise logo.

The fightback is being led by the Free Range Dairy Network.

This is a farmer’s movement which works with dairy farmers, wholesalers, businesses and food networks to bring great tasting milk and make sure customers have a choice on which farming system they want to support.

Milkmen who attended the event were given an insight into how the concept worked and got to see the cows and farmers producing free range milk.

The visit to Baildon persuaded many to switch all of their milk supplies to free range.

These included Mr Coates and his family members who set up a milk round to customers in Baildon, which began earlier this month and takes place three times a week, using free range milk.

Mr Coates said: “The milk delivery service is very much in its infancy.

“We are delivering to around 20 customers in the near vicinity to then farm.

“It has proved a big success and we are hoping to expand it in the new year.

“We have been delivering since the start of this month.

“We can see the service growing all of the time.

“The milk round is a real family business and we are all much in it.

“We held the event to make people aware of where their food comes from.”

Yorkshire is the most popular place for milkmen to sell free range milk under the Pasture Promise logo and this is set to continue next year.

Milkmen have been battling to maintain their business as supermarkets continue to undercut them on prices.

In the late 1960s and 1970s, there were between 40,000 and 45,000 milkmen delivering to more than 18 million homes in Britain, which worked out as 99 per cent of households.

But the nation’s shopping habits changed, with supermarkets opening for longer hours meaning the local milkman went into decline. This resulted in only ten per cent of homes still having their milk delivered and the number of working milkmen fell to 4,000.

Neil Darwent, of the Free Range Dairy Network, said: “The Pasture Promise logo gives consumers the chance to make a more informed choice when they buy milk as well as support traditional British dairy farms.

“Happy cows assured the freedom to graze in fields for at least six months a year produce great tasting milk and people love it.

“Free Range Dairy Network forges close collaboration between small milk processors and dairy farmers to deliver great tasting milk with strong local provenance.”