A LOCAL dairy farmer has taken umbrage at the suggestion that the island's milk is inferior to organic milk and that a ban on its importation should be lifted to enhance child development.

A 30-year industry veteran and the island's largest dairy farmer, Harry Kromer described local milk as the "best in the world", attributing its superior quality to the cows' feed and the standards applied.

"Everybody's talking about organic milk," he said. "It's good but we have something in our favour here that other parts of the world don't. Everywhere else in the world they feed cows with very little grain. It's very expensive so they feed them grass instead.

"You can't find cheap silage in Bermuda. We don't have acres and acres to grow it on. When we farm we give our cows (nutrients) humans need. In our grain is everything you can think of. It's good for the heart and the teeth."

Mr. Kromer was responding to a resident's suggestion, expressed via a letter in , that Government should allow grocers and health food stores to import organic dairy milk.

"This is the largest source of nutrition for children ages one and two and is vital in the development for all children up to the age of 18," wrote 'Concerned' from Southampton.

"I am a concerned mother of two small children and cannot understand why the Bermuda Government 'protects' the local dairy farmers by disallowing anyone to import a product that is readily available in nearly all developed countries in the world.

"I can fully appreciate that the local dairy farmers should be able to make a living. However, if there is something the farmers cannot produce locally, these products should be admitted for importation."

While he said he appreciated the points raised by 'Concerned', Mr. Kromer insisted there was no need to lift the importation ban ? that to do so would bring an inferior product onto the market.

"Organic milk is good for America, Canada and England, but we're getting a product that, as far as I'm concerned, is 100 per cent better," he said. "The cows are outside 24 hours a day. They have views and breezes. They're next to the ocean. The only time they're in a building is when they're being milked."

'Concerned' in Southampton highlighted several benefits of organic milk, lauding it because cows are not fed genetically modified feed or antibiotics ? unless ill. Also praised were the health benefits attributed to drinking organic milk and the fact that its farmers do not use artificial pesticides where cows graze.

As argued by Mr. Kromer, his cows are just as privileged, also free of antibiotics, genetically modified feed and artificial pesticides.

"I would say our milk is the world's best and Dr. Robert Bell (of Pfizer Animal Health, one of the largest animal health businesses in the world) says it is because of what goes in it. She says we need organic milk ? yes. In the US, Canada and England.

"But we farm differently. The average Bermuda farmer would love to feed the way they do there because it's cheaper, but the grade of milk is no way the quality of Bermuda's. I would say, and I'm not bragging, that our cows are the world's best fed."

He said Jonathan Nisbett of the Department of Environmental Protection does an excellent job of inspecting the cows to make sure they remain disease free and are kept in good health. As well, Government inspectors ensure that the premises are kept clean and suitable for milk production and Dunkley's Dairy analyses every drop of milk it receives to ensure it is up to standard ? that no water has been added and that no antibiotics have been given to the animals.

"In England, there are increasing rates of tuberculosis and cows are being put down by the hundreds because they carry it," the farmer explained.

"We have been cited by Dr. Bell and he travels all over the world, looking at everything to do with cattle. Bermuda is the only place in the world where our cows are disease-free. England, Canada, the United States, Japan, Europe and South Africa all have diseases we don't because we are an island and have such strict Government regulations for importing cattle."

As proof, Mr. Kromer highlighted a report on the global industry written by Dr. Bell in which he stated: "Bermuda . . . is fortunate to have a cost-effective, self-supporting local diary industry that provides a healthy product for domestic consumption.

"From an animal health perspective, there are significant health advantages to the isolation of an island. Bermuda's rigid health tests restrict cattle importation and, in combination with the isolation of an island, provide an excellent bio-secure industry."

According to Mr. Kromer, drinking two glasses of fresh milk every day has been shown to significantly improve health, especially joints and arthritis while American studies have also shown it to prevent prostrate cancer in men.

Said the 79 year old: "My cows are my life and I take care of them like they were my children. If I wasn't 100 per cent sure of my milk and its benefits to us all I ? and my family ? sure wouldn't be drinking it all these years. I am living proof of the goodness of our fresh milk in Bermuda ? the world's best milk."