Wanted: new Lakeland text system

Technology, eh? On Tuesday of this week, a group of dairy farmers supplying Lakeland Dairies spat out their second breakfast cup of tea.

Lakeland suppliers, a very small number of whom have been giving out about what they describe as being inaccurate protein testing, received their total bacteria count (TBC) results via text message.

The figures, on first reading, were eye-watering. It had their TBC at 20,160,000 – somewhat higher than 50,000 threshold the co-op demands.

The farmer figured that the number was a mistake and contained the year 2016.

After about 30 minutes – enough time for some concerned to make contact with the head honchos in Baileborough to query the text – Lakeland issued a second text advising farmers to ignore the first one.