He added that profits would go towards restoring the listed buildings on the Mapledurham estate, the tourist attraction and family home where the dairyherd is based.
To the untrained eye like my own, Dean's cattle look in rude health but he shakes his head and explains, with their restrictive diet, his dairyherd is producing less and poorer quality milk.
On Thursday morning, Mr Richards announced he would be selling up his own dairyherd as he could no longer afford to continue in the industry, an example that underlines the seriousness of the situation.
While the industry is seeing the number of dairy farms contract, the number of animals per herd is increasing, indicating a concentration of the industry as fewer, larger units develop.