Raw milk

The raw milk in the vending machine comes straight from our cows. Milk bought in shops is bottled at dairies that handle milk from a great many farms at any one time. Our organic raw milk is unpasteurised (not heat treated), and not homogenised (when the fat globules are processed to standardise milk without cream). The processing alters the way the body digests the milk.

Raw milk is an unprocessed natural food and tastes fantastic.

The milk is from today or yesterday.

We do not test for levels of A2 casein protein but our herd will have a higher A2 composition because the mix of breeds includes some Jersey which have the highest A2 casein protein.

No. Our cows graze in the fields eating grass, herbs & legumes, grown organically in healthy soil. In winter the cows eat silage which is fermented grass. Organic standards, which are set at the highest levels for climate, nature and health do not allow the feed additive Bovaer®.

The cows eat grass in the farm’s fields from late March to early November, weather and conditions permitting. In winter you can see them eating silage from the trough at the edge of their building at the top of the farm lane.

The cows are housed in winter when the grass stops growing and the fields are wet. The cows eat silage (fermented grass). The taste of the milk is subtly different when the cows are grazing on fresh grass.

Raw milk from this farm will taste different from milk from a farm in another part of the country. This is down to the soil, the topography, and the climate. The French have the word terroir, which is often used in relation to wine, to describe how environmental conditions influence flavour.

For every claim about the health benefits of drinking raw milk, there is a counterclaim. The best option, as with most things, is to become informed. For us on the farm, raw milk is milk. It’s what we’ve always drunk and thrived on. It is a live product containing microbes that contribute to a healthy gut.

The Food Standards Agency requires all raw milk producers to provide the following health warning about the risks associated with its consumption:

“This milk has not been heat-treated and may therefore contain organisms harmful to health”

We are licensed to sell raw milk by the Food Standards Agency. We run our business in accordance with our HACCP (hazard analysis and critical control points), which is a systematic and personalised preventative approach to food safety that has been drawn up with feedback from our local Environmental Health Officer and the Food Standards Agency. Our HACCP system is used at all stages of raw milk production from dairy setup and preparation to milking the cows, cleaning, and personal hygiene.

Every 2 days, the milk is tested when collected by the dairy. They sample for TVC (total viable bacteria count, a broad measure of bacteria) SCC (somatic cell counts, a measure of infection).

We send samples for testing every week for TVC and coliforms (tests that establish the cleanliness of the milk) and monthly for E. coli, salmonella, Coagulase-positive staphylococci, campylobacter, and listeria.

The Food Standards Agency does its own identical tests every 3 months and our local Environmental Health Department takes samples at random intervals.

TB is spread by an infected animal joining a herd and through wildlife. TB is not endemic, nor is it in the badger population in this area.

In the UK, milk from a cow that has been treated with antibiotics must be discarded until after a regulated withdrawal period has passed. Following Soil Association organic standards means that we prioritise good animal husbandry to minimise disease, for example through diet, genetics, and careful monitoring.

Our cows produce over 1 million litres per year. Our main milk buyer is Organic Herd, the UK’s foremost dairy cooperative, wholly owned and run by farmers. Through Organic Herd our milk is made into organic butter, cheese and baby formula, and some is ready for you to drink from the vending machine.

There are 124 farms in England that are registered with the Food Standards Agency to supply raw milk directly to consumers. The Raw Milk Producers Association: (RMPA) has a directory of its members: here. There is lots of useful information on the site too.

Please ask if you would like an ice pack to keep your milk cool while you travel.

People do, but it definitely tastes best fresh.

The milk goes from the cow’s udder to the green tank outside the dairy where it is quickly cooled. The vending machine is supplied from this tank.

The tank in the vending machine holds 200 litres. The big tank in the yard holds 18000 litres.

It is not advisable to re-use plastics.