The Courier & Advertiser (Angus and Dundee)
Pastures new for organic farm
Enterprising business targets customers with new vending machine outlet in farm shop
A new dairy enterprise is up and running on an organic farm in Moray.
While other dairy farmers are exiting the industry, Gordon Whiteford and his wife June have seen an opportunity to build on the success of their existing egg business and offer consumers more produce from their organic enterprise at Lower Mill of Tynet Farm on the Fochabers Estate.
The family has a small herd of 40 cattle, and milk from around a dozen cows is being sold through a vending machine in their on-farm shop.
Mr Whiteford said his background in dairy farming had spurred a desire to get cows of his own to milk, and said the venture was four years in the making.
“We bought in our first calves four years ago,” he added.
“We got a Leader grant for the pasteuriser and vending machine, which covered around 70% of the costs and we also managed to get a second-hand milking robot out of Aberdeen.”
He said their farm shop, which houses an egg vending machine and a milk vending machine, has been relocated to the bottom of the farm road to make it more accessible to visiting and passing trade.
“We are also waiting to get in a new vending machine to sell vegetables, honey and chutney,” added Mr Whiteford, whose long-term aim was to grow vegetables to supply the shop.
He also hopes to use the shop to sell meat from the farm’s 60-ewe sheep customers flock and any beef calves produced from the dairy herd.
The dairy cows at Lower Mill of Tynet are run on an innovative cow-with-calf system, which is only run on a handful of farms in Scotland.
“It’s a cross between a suckler system and a dairy system,” said Mr Whiteford.
“After the cows get milked in the morning, the calf goes with its mother and they are separated again when they come in at night.”
Mr Whiteford said the system was stress-free for the calves, which receive straw and water at night and they are achieving average growth rates of 1.3kg per day.
The cattle are mainly Holstein Friesian, but Mr Whiteford plans to create a pro-cross – a three-way hybrid between a Holstein, Montbeliarde and a Viking Red or Swedish Red.
“It has the yield of a Holstein, the health benefits of the Viking or Swedish Red and a bit more flesh from the dualpurpose Montbeliarde,” said Mr Whiteford.
“I don’t want to be milking more than 30 cows – we couldn’t cope with that.”
He said milk sales, which have been running for three weeks, have been a success and he is in talks with restaurants and cafes about supplying milk to them as well.