Our Sharing Dairy system
All Together
In our 'Sharing Dairy' system our ladies and calves live and grow up as one herd ,all together-allday,everyday. Everyone comes in for milking time together, when we milk the excess the calves do not want from our ladies, before they all return to pasture. This way we ‘Share’ the milk produced -and the calves get priority.
We then turn this fresh organic milk into our multi award winning unhomogenised Kefir, Milk, Cream, Cultured Buttermilk and Yoghurt in our own dairy onsite at our farm, ready for delivery to farm shops, restaurants, deli, schools, businesses and the farmers markets we attend each week.
Relaxed Schedule
As part of Jess's Ladies 'Sharing Dairy' system our herd is milked 11 times each week - with a mixture of twice and once a day milking. This more relaxed approach has been developed to take any pressure off our ladies, ourselves and to ever evolve our farming approach and effective use of resources-whilst still producing the finest Jess's Ladies Organic dairy produce.
It is going exceptionally well and bringing the ladies and calves in together for milking makes us smile every day. Watching them grow up together as one herd living together all day everyday is a huge privilege, and by the time they are of weaning age they are very much more cows than calves, on an adult diet they chose to embrace-and I’m confident have had the very best start in life.
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Sharing Dairy system
This ‘sharing Dairy ‘ system, where calves are left with their herd 24hours a day and a new relaxed milking pattern is adopted, has come about after the pooling of a lifetime of knowledge and observation. Snippets from other fabulous dairies in the uk, combined with a lifetime of working alongside our ladies to meet their needs, set against the back drop of todays challenges, environmental responsibilities and consumer demands have all featured.
Our 'Sharing Dairy' approach sees inherent benefits for farmers health and mental wellbeing, as well as a more relaxed approach for our animals. The UK has the most incredible hard working dairy farmers, with the highest standards in the world, but we must never stand still and continue to evolve for the good of ourselves, our animals and our farmland.
Balance is everything
Balance and 'sharing' is important in every aspect and we all have a duty. For so long as humans eat meat and dairy produce, we have a duty as farmers to ensure every day of those animals lives in our care are the best they can possibly be. Consumers have a responsibility to purchase and source the best they can, to make sure they are making the most informed choices about their food, how it is produced and are supporting a food source they believe in with their purchases. Every penny spent on food is a vote for the farming system it comes from-cast your vote wisely.
We are proud of the way we care for our Ladies.
I do not know if 'Sharing Dairy' is the future, but I'm very proud to give it my very best effort, whilst continuing to produce the finest Jess’s Ladies Organic Dairy Produce alongside our most treasured business partners-our Ladies and calves