“WHAT SORT OF MILK DO YOU SELL?”
All milk sold is produced by our award winning Ayrshire cows. Ayrshire milk is renowned for its fantastic taste. We milk our cows twice a day and all milk sold is fresh and produced to the highest standards.
We offer our customers the choice between ‘Raw’ and Pasteurized milk.
We are regulated by the Food Standards Agency (FSA), Department for Environment, food & Rural Affairs (DEFRA), Environmental Health & local council. To meet the stringent standards to sell our milk we have a robust Food Safety Management Plan, which include laboratory testing and regular reviews.
Q: ”Do you sell milk from any other animal such as buffalo, sheep or goats?”
A: No we do not, we are dairy farmers of pedigree Ayrshire cows.
Q:“WHAT IS ‘RAW’ MILK?”
A: This is the term given to milk that is directly from the Cow filtered and cooled. It has not been pasteurized, homogenized or standardized.
We are members of the Raw Drinking Milk association: https://rawmilkproducers.co.uk/
This forum is an excellent resource of expertise with information for public and producers. Visit this site for in-depth information about the benefits/risks of Raw Drinking Milk (RDM)
Q: “CAN ANYONE DRINK ‘RAW’ MILK?”
A: The Food Standards Agency state: “Raw drinking milk is not heat treated and therefore can contain organisms harmful to health”. They recommend Raw Milk is not suitable for anyone with a weaker immune system and specify it should not be consumed by:
Anyone with a weakened immune system.
Babies/young children.
Older persons
Pregnant ladies.
Q: “WHAT IS PASTEURISED MILK?”
A: This is the term given to milk that has been heat treated, to eliminate pathogens and extend shelf life. We use a gentle low heat batch pasteurizer to minimize taste taint. Our Pasteurized milk is not homogenized or standardized.
Q: “What is homogenisation?”
A: Homogenization, where the milk is sent through tiny jets under high pressure to break up the fat molecules into smaller ones. This keeps the fats in emulsion, preventing the cream from rising to the surface. Our milk is not homogenized. you will be able to see the cream on the top of your milk every morning - an extra treat for the first person down for breakfast !
Q: “What is Standardisation?”
A: Standardisation is designed to make a consistent fat content, which is usually done by removing some of the cream. We do not remove anything from our ‘Raw’ or Pasteurized milk.
Q: “CAN I USE MY OWN CONTAINER?”
A. Yes for ‘Raw’ Milk, but sorry not for our Pasteurized milk.
Pasteurized milk is available in new 2L containers provided by the farm. - This is due to available resources at the farm, and complying with FSA advice.
The Food Standards Agency (FSA) recommend the public do not re-use containers for milk as they believe this to be a risk if not thoroughly cleaned. The FSAs recommendation is to buy a new can each time.
We keep the cost of new containers to a minimum to enable our customers to purchase our milk in a new container each time and continue to provide a high-quality product at a very reasonable price.
We recognize that many customers may wish to use their own containers for a variety of reasons and support this choice for the ‘raw’ milk. see more information on this website under ‘milk containers’ page.
Q: “HOW LONG DOSE THE MILK LAST?”
A.
Pasteurised - date on lid
‘Raw’ Milk - Food Standards Agency (FSA) recommend raw milk is used within 4 days. Our Raw milk is sold on day it is milked.
Q “HOW DO I TRANSPORT AND STORE MY MILK?”
A. Milk will be supplied to you below 5 degrees C.
It is essential for you to transport your milk to the fridge as quickly as possible, if you foresee a delay we suggest using a cool bag. Remember even in the winter the car heater will be on. It is essential that the milks temperature does not rise above 5 degrees for the milk to last its expected shelf life and prevent potential harmful bacteria growth.
Keep your milk in the fridge between 2 degrees - 5 degrees C. (We suggest a check on your fridge temperature settings),and minimize the time the milk container is out of the fridge. Suggest decanting larger volumes into smaller bottles to prevent leaving out of fridge.
If you choose to freeze your milk see the Food Standards Agency recommendations on how to freeze, store, safely defrost and consume your milk we have many customers who give good feedback on their freezing experience however have never done so ourselves and always would recommend drinking fresh.
Q: “DO YOU SELL COLOSTRUM /BOISTINGS/ ‘YELLOW MILK’ /FIRST MILK?”
A: No.
We give this to the calves to ensure they have the very best healthy start in life.
Q: “DO YOU PROVIDE A DELIVERY SERVICE?”
A: Sorry no.
Q: “CAN WE EXPLORE THE FARM WHEN WE VISIT THE SHOP?”
A: SORRY NO.
All public visiting the farm shop will not be permitted to explore the farm. This is a working dairy farm and to keep the animals and the public safe no access to the farm buildings or fields are permitted.
There is clear signage where the public are not permitted to access and we ask that all farm shop visitors adhere to all safety notices and do not attempt to venture into restricted or private areas. We have monitored CCTV and any trespassing into restricted areas will be considered a risk to our strict bio-security, the general security and privacy of our home.
We are running the farm shop to enable us to sell our milk to keep the farm business viable, it is a shop, and does not have a cafe or other recreational facilities.
Adjacent to the farm shop you will be able to see our lovely cows unless they are busy in the fields grazing.
Q: “DO you use Bovaer?” - (the feed additive currently being trialed in some UK farms to attempt to reduce cattle methane production)
A: No.
We have never used this additive. We have no intention of using this in the future.
We are happy to discuss this issue with customers when they visit.
Q: “IS YOUR MILK A2”
A: Our milk is produced from our Pedigree Ayrshire herd. Due to the smaller gene pool of Pedigree Ayrshire bulls we have chosen not to concentrate our breeding programme on whether the bull is A1 or A2. Therefore our cows are not tested to ascertain this.
However Ayrshire milk is known for excellent digestive properties. The raw milk is especially well tolerated, with many of our customers reporting that they are now enjoying milk from our farm without any gastrointestinal symptoms when they have previously been unable to consume milk.
Q: IS YOUR MILK ORGANIC?
A: Our milk is not classed as organic as we choose to appropriately treat our cows if ill. Our cows are grass fed, out in the fields from spring till late autumn and each one looked after with great care. Our farm land is well maintained and managed responsibly.
Q: DO YOU USE ANTIBIOTICS?
A:
If our cows need antibiotics to get better then they are given antibiotics, As per our robust herd health plan overseen by experienced vets.
We have a very strict process that ensures that no antibiotics are in the milk that is sold. we strictly adhere to the medication withdrawal period for each medication, and our milk is tested twice a month by independent laboratories to independently verify this.
Q: Why are you not able to answer the phone?
A: We are a small family run business, we do not have staff to answer the phone. As a working farm we are either busy looking after our animals or with customers who are being served in our busy farm shop. To interupt either of these would be detrimental to what we are doing at the time. Therefore we have the facility for customers to text any specific questions not answered in our voice message, website or face to face communications which we will attempt to answer as soon as possible.