Last month I wrote an op-ed about the crisis facing Bermuda’s dairy industry. I asked for details about why exactly Bermuda’s largest dairy farm, Green Land, had been temporarily suspended. I highlighted animal welfare concerns about their cows kept on the site at the top of Store Hill and at Spittal Pond. I questioned successive governments’ lack of commitment and general oversight of our dairy industry. I asked where the promised Integrated Agriculture Strategy was, specifically the Dairy Strategy. And I criticised Green Land for bad management, resulting in the appalling stench of manure, and the liquid faecal slurry that has been pouring on to the Railway Trail, particularly in recent months.

The response from members of the public, especially those familiar with the farming and dairy industries, was gratitude for highlighting these issues and frustration that they had endured for so long without any meaningful action. The response from those in a position to answer my questions and solve the problems at Green Land, however, was complete silence.

This lack of transparency over an issue so vital to our public health and nutritional security is worrying.

One question that was answered, albeit indirectly, was who is paying to clean up the portion of the Railway Trail that runs alongside Green Land, where the manure pit has consistently overflowed. This liquid manure regularly pours down the hill, leeching nitrogen and E. coli into the environment and threatening the water lens and ocean at the bottom of Store Hill.

It turns out that we, Bermuda’s taxpayers, are paying and we know this because a contractor is being sought by the Government to install stone barriers and soakaways to capture and filter the run-off. While this may prevent the slurry from pouring on to a public park, it will not solve the unbearable smell and resulting air pollution, the root cause of which is more than just bad farm management and a lack of enforcement of the regulations. It is gross negligence.

In speaking to dairy experts, it seems the main causes of the foul odour at Green Land are the barn in which the cattle live and the pit into which all the manure, urine and other liquid waste flows. This pit-and-barn design works only when the pit is emptied regularly and the liquid faeces transported to arable farms is ploughed immediately into the fields as fertiliser. This is not happening.

On farms where the cows have enough pasture on which to graze, their manure is left to dry on the ground. Dry manure doesn’t smell. Eventually, it seeps into and fertilises the area. Adopting this model could solve Green Land’s issues; however, if this is not possible because of their rocky terrain, perhaps an alternative site should be found.

In addition to the manure pits at Green Land not being regularly emptied, the barn is designed for a maximum of 80 cows. How many cows are there at the farm? Is part of the problem simply that there are too many cows for this plot of land?

Other concerns that have been raised have to do with the welfare of the cows. Did the government inspectors have concerns about the conditions of the cows? Dairy experts tell us that when a farm is well managed and dairy cows are taken care of properly, their milk production does not noticeably dip — even in the heat of the summer. I can’t remember a recent summer when there has not been a shortage of fresh milk, and the reason we are always given is the heat. Are the cows being taken care of properly? Do the government inspectors and other authorities have the expertise to accurately assess Bermuda’s dairy farms? As the ones who are expected to drink this milk, we deserve answers.

If they want to support and drive Bermuda’s dairy industry forward, the Government needs to consider long-term solutions. It could start by acting on the Public Health (Milk and Dairy Farm) Regulations 1952, which can be found on Bermuda Laws Online. Even though these regulations date back more than 70 years, they give clear requirements for farm management, such as that all floors and gutters of cowsheds and stalls “shall be adequately drained” and that “no manure shall be stored within 50 feet of any place where cows are milked”. Are these regulations, and others, being enforced?

Alongside this, the Government needs to formalise, publish and follow a forward-thinking strategy, and engage dairy industry expertise to assist with its effective implementation.

Appropriate dairy expertise is particularly crucial in order to create a meaningful, trusting partnership between the Government and the dairy industry. Is there anyone in government at the moment, for example, who truly understands the intricacies and science of operating a dairy farm in Bermuda? Someone who understands and appreciates what the nutritional needs of dairy herds are? Who can advise on the best animal welfare standards for dairy cows? And who can provide meaningful support to Bermuda’s dairy farmers?

This is not a case of reinventing the wheel. A simple route to achieving an up-to-date and forward-thinking agriculture strategy could be to adopt Britain’s Red Tractor certified standards. Anyone who buys British products here, or who spends time over there, may be familiar with the Red Tractor logo on many British-produced foods.

Red Tractor was founded by the British farming industry and food businesses in 2000 to establish a single set of standards for British food and drink. Some farmers in Bermuda follow these standards anyway because, one of them told us, they provide clear, distinct and excellent guidelines. This farmer also believes it makes more sense to align Bermuda’s farming industry standards with Britain, instead of the United States, because British standards have been designed to suit smaller farms. As we would expect, some aspects would need to be adapted to Bermuda’s climate and size, but this, we are told, is easy to do.

As part of the new Integrated Agriculture Strategy, the Government also needs to provide direction and modern-day thinking to encourage the next generation of dairy farmers. Many are put off by the negative view of the industry, which is exacerbated by the publicity surrounding Green Land, as well as the lack of incentives. In addition to better publicity for the industry, this could be supported with scholarships for training courses and degrees at British-based agricultural colleges, as well as subsidies for those who want to own their own farm one day.

We’re not talking about a lot of people. Bermuda needs only one or two well-managed dairy farms to keep the island well supplied with fresh milk.

The dairy industry in Bermuda is a lucrative business to be in if you run a well-managed farm, and there will be always demand for good-quality, locally produced milk. What the industry needs is an updated, forward-thinking agriculture/dairy strategy enacted and enforced as a matter of urgency.

People have had enough of the negative publicity surrounding Green Land. It is giving the whole industry a bad name, and the problems there need to be fixed. Maybe it’s that the number of cows needs to be reduced. Maybe the barn-and-pit system needs to be dismantled and the cows put out to pasture instead. Maybe animal welfare standards need to be examined and better standards enforced.

If Green Land cannot address the problematic issues, perhaps the farm needs to be sold to someone who can and will. It is not the only dairy farm on the island, but it is the only one making a stink — and not enough is being done to change it.

• Kim J. Smith is the executive director of the Bermuda Environmental Sustainability Taskforce