FAQs

We choose not to become certified organic (for reasons explained below) but we do practice various organic farming methods. For example, we do not use artificial fertilisers on many of our crops and we do not spray our pastures. Our cows graze on the species-diverse marshland meadows immediately surrounding our farmyard. They are home to rich ecosystems, diverse with wildlife and this landscape provides our cows with a richer and more varied diet than they would receive from a simple grass pasture. We also grow most of our cows winter feed ourselves, in the surrounding landscape. We don’t use artificial fertilisers on our winter herbal leys, just good old muck from the cows. This practice allows us to vastly reduce the need to buy in additional feedstuffs from outside our own farm. 

Being certified organic can create a very rigid set of criteria in practice, which can become problematic for dairy farms during drought years if the weather makes it hard to grow all our own feed on the farm. Organic feed often needs to be imported from across the globe. It is highly priced and can entail thousands of food miles. Our approach allows us to practice as many organic principles as possible, while maintaining the flexibility to make practical decisions during challenging growing years.

On the majority of our land, we do not use any sprays or artificial fertilisers. We do not spray our grazing pastures or the herbal leys we grow for the cows winter feed. However on our wheat crops, which are away from the main dairy farm, we do currently use pesticides and herbicides.

We vaccinate our herd to protect our cows against diseases such as BVD, IBR and Leptospirosis. These diseases can spread rapidly amongst the herd and can cause significant suffering for a cow. Our policy is always to put herd health first, to allow our cows a happy, healthy life and to reduce the need for veterinary intervention.

We do not use any growth hormones in our herd. This practice is most commonly associated with the USA and is illegal in UK dairy farming.

We use antibiotics in our herd, but only when absolutely necessary for the health and welfare of an animal.

If a cow has received antibiotic treatment, we follow strict withdrawal period procedures so that milk or meat containing antibiotic residues does not enter into the human food chain. 

We have not tested the A2 status of our herd, however what we do know is that the Montbeliarde breed of cows are high carriers of the A2 gene. We have also been breeding our herd to bulls with the A2 gene. This genetic trait helps improve the cheesemaking quality of the milk. So whilst we don’t know for sure how many of our cows are A2, it is likely that our herd is high in A2 due to the breed and genetics.

All of our calves are grouped into pens of 6, split into females and males, and they stay together for the first two years of their lives. The females, known as heifer calves at this stage, are generally reared to become dairy cows in our own herd. The males, known as steers, as well as a few heifers of a beef breed, are reared here on our farm and live a free-ranging life, to the point where they are ready for fattening to be slaughtered as an adult animal. 

We remove the calves from the mothers as quickly as possible after birth, and before the maternal bond has formed. This is the most humane way, as recommended by the RSPCA. The distress to mother and calf using this method is minimal and we see happy contented mothers and calves within hours.

The main reasons for separating calves and mothers are the safety of our farm team and the safety of calves. Keeping mothers and calves separate helps to avoid injury to all and also greatly reduces disease transmission on the farm. All of our calves receive their mother’s colostrum milk. They are a happy and playful bunch!

Our cows spend as much of the year as possible grazing on the pastures behind the farm, eating the diverse array plant species which grow on our water meadows.

During the cold winter months, the pasture stops growing and the fen is liable to flooding. At this time, we bring the herd into our purpose-built open sided barns. During these months, we feed our cows on a diet of mostly homegrown forage (grass, herbal leys and wholecrop), which we grow on our own land, within 5 miles of our farm.

Our ambition is to feed our herd on 100% homegrown forage without having to buy anything in. Every year we get closer to this target, but we do still buy in a very small amount of protein, which comes from rape extract meal grown in the UK, as well as some vitamins and minerals which we use to top up the forages when the cows are in the shed in the winter months.

We try to use the closest slaughterhouse whenever possible, to minimise the stress of travelling for our animals.

Much of our beef goes to local restaurants and is sold in our own farm shops. The beef from our retired dairy cows is also sold to local restaurants, meaning nothing is wasted.

We are working tirelessly to prove that dairy farming DONE RIGHT, can be part of the solution to climate change and healthy food systems, not part of the problem. For details of everything we’re doing here on the farm, please visit our Greener Farming page

You can also follow our latest environmental developments on our YouTube channel and social media platforms.