OUR APPROACH

Fresh, raw and ethical milk

Happy and healthy cows produce healthy milk. We take good care of our cows, which means the milk they give us is delicious, nutritious and safe to drink unpasteurised. Because the only processing we do is to strain and chill our cows’ milk, it retains all its natural goodies - including vitamins, proteins, essential fatty acids, digestive enzymes and minerals. And we think it tastes a whole lot better this way too.

We believe that a dairy calf should stay with its mum instead of being separated at birth. Until this year, our calves (both boys and girls) have stayed with their Mum for the first couple of months followed by a month where they see their mum every day for a drink and chat to ease thier transition to independence. Our cows are definitely happier because of it and the calves do very well too. We would like to trial a new system in 2024, where calves stay with their Mum during the day until 5-7 months, and are separated overnight so we can get the morning milk for the dairy. They would be reunited after milking for the rest of the day.

Depending on the financial needs of the dairy, calves are either raised for Rose Veal or they are sold to neighbouring farms to live the life of a beef animal. Until we’re in a position to start raising our own heifers, we are buying in replacement milking cows from other organic dairies.

Regenerative agriculture

We believe that we farm better when we work with nature. We take a regenerative approach to farming, which means we promote plant and soil health through biodiversity and the balance of natural systems. We’re inspired by permaculture, biodynamics and organic farming, and bring all these ideas together to create a farm that has a positive regenerative effect on our land and local environment. - doing more good rather than less bad.

Community-supported agriculture

We’re excited to join Stroud’s existing community-supported agriculture (CSA) family. As you might already know, CSA is about creating a partnership between farmers and customers, and building transparency, sustainability and resilience into our food system. Simply put, we talk, know and support each other, and we use a community membership model to run our little farm.