By Barbara Cossins.
August and September are such busy months here at Rawston Farm. We have finished an early harvest this year, and we have been clearing the straw from the fields for winter feed and bedding. It’s also the time our dairy cows are calving and having their babies so they can produce lots of milk. We sell our milk to a co-operative called Arla, which I’m sure you’ve all seen advertised. You’ll have seen the butter, cheese, milk and other dairy products with its label on.
Here in Dorset we produce some of the best milk in the country. This is because we have lush pastures which produce good grass that we then feed the animals on. We milk about 300 milking cows and these are split into two units with their own herd person looking after them. They milk them twice a day, early morning and again in the afternoon. It’s extremely hard work but also incredibly rewarding looking after and being responsible for their own animals.
It’s wonderful to read that 96 per cent of UK adults continue to purchase milk on a regular basis and 94 per cent also buy cheese. Both are an essential component of a healthy and sustainable diet.
Although we produce all this milk ourselves we cannot sell it direct to the public as we do not have a pasteuriser, so we also buy from local dairy farmers Meggy Moo’s – past winners and current sponsors of Love Local Trust Local. We sell its wonderful pasteurised milk, fabulous double cream and new range of home-churned butter in our farm shop. I love working with other like-minded businesses which are working equally hard to produce great local food from a small business in this very challenging climate.
Recently Meggy Moo’s was invited to the House of Commons to showcase what it is doing for the British Dairy Industry together with other producers from across the UK. What an honour and a great achievement for a Dorset business to be up there having its say. Since that visit Meggy Moo’s Sea Salted Hand Crafted Butter has been shortlisted as a finalist in the Great Dorset Food Awards.
It’s good for farmers to hear that members of Parliament are interested in what’s going on in the food and farming world. Last week I had a good chat with several of our local councillors at the Gillingham & Shaftesbury Show and they listened to our story with great interest. Communication and education are always key on both sides, and it’s important to remember that the British dairy industry is one of the best in the world and our welfare standards are second to none.
Barbara Cossins is founder of Love Local Trust Local; www.thelangtonarms.co.uk; www.rawstonfarmbutchery.co.uk; www.lovelocaltrustlocal
awards.co.uk