Robert Ashton has seen the future, and it’s community-owned farms and other enterprises.

In my teens, I spent my weekends and school holidays milking cows. They were Jersey cows, smaller than the more usual Friesian or Holstein. But what they lacked in size, they more than made up for in attitude. They could be quick to kick and slow to conform.

Over several years I got to know them well. I came to know their names, characters, place in the herd hierarchy and even better, they got to know me. They'd come when I called and trust me not to hurt when applying first aid to torn teats and other bovine maladies.

I was reminded of those happy days some 40 years ago this week. There's a brilliant film going round the independent cinema circuit called 'The Moo Man.' We saw it last week in Norwich. It's about Sussex dairy farmer Steve Hook. He has 55 cows on 180 acres of rented permanent pasture and was followed over three years by a local filmmaker.

The product was for me pure nostalgia. Steve was shown milking his cows, delivering a calf, drenching a sick cow called Ida and much more. The point of the film was that today, few dairy farmers remain and almost no stockmen retain the connection to their stock that Steve has now and I enjoyed in my youth.

But for me the film said much more. You see it's considered impossible to make a living from a few cows on a small farm. Low milk prices and high feed costs mean that even the biggest herds often run at a loss. But Steve has cleverly identified and very professionally exploited a niche market. He bottles his unpasteurised milk and retails it.

Clever branding and proactive marketing means he has a thriving milk round, a stall at Borough market on London's South Bank, and despatches internet milk orders nationwide. His motivation is both to survive, and grow a business his four sons can one day take over.   His customers love the news from the farm he prints on their invoices. The film was made because the filmmaker started buying his milk. Serendipitous certainly, but clever all the same.

Traditional farming skills are dying out and farmers like Steve few and far between. Yet consumer opposition to supermarket domination is growing. Add the recent horsemeat scandal and you begin to see the growing opportunity for farmers like Steve.

It struck me that the film is actually a consumer call to action. All the elements exist for a rural revolution. There are many farm owners with no interest in farming; they buy for seclusion, sport and tax benefits. There are many consumers who'd willingly pay a premium for local, quality produce from a source they can understand and relate to. And finally, there are always young people keen to enter farming but unable to raise the cash or find the land.

The answer I believe is to create a swathe of new farm co-ops. Consumers can crowdfund new farmers to partner with those city lifestyle landowners. Webcams and social media can keep everyone up-to-date with what's new on the farm. Even the farm-owners benefit, as small-scale retail farming is far prettier than prairie-scale wheat production.

In short everyone wins, especially the cows and other livestock. Small can be both beautiful and profitable. Community-owned enterprise is the future and it can start where all food starts, down on the farm.