Derbyshire couple’s green dream for eco-friendly dairy comes true – with Chatsworth on their milk round

“We began bottling milk from my family’s herd of Ayrshires and started deliveries at the start of lockdown,” explained 33-year-old Richard. Processing our own milk means we can keep control of our business and set our own prices.

“And not sending all our milk off to a processor means it doesn’t have to travel so far - keeping our carbon footprint small. Most of our deliveries are within about 12 miles of our farm.

“I love farming and want to future-proof our farm by making it more appealing to the consumer, this means being as eco-friendly as we can,” added Richard, who financed the dairy machinery and equipment with a business loan in 2020 after his family bought the farm in 2009.

“We grow and feed lupins to our cows - it’s similar to soya - the crop works well in an arable system, reducing the need for artificial fertilisers. This also helps to pull delivery lorries out of the system,” he explained.

Alkmonton Dairy, in the Derbyshire Dales, has a herd of around 200 Ayrshires and produces milk, butter and cream delivering it to almost 1,000 doorsteps, cafés, pubs and shops, including Chatsworth Estate Farm Shop.

“Chatsworth contacted us as they wanted a local milk producer for their farmshop and café. People’s perspectives have changed so much - they now want to buy things which are good for the planet and don’t mind paying a premium for sustainably produced food on their doorstep - most of the time we could all eat food produced within ten miles of our homes.

“Ayrshires produce a high quality milk - with healthier milk proteins which are easier to digest than those of other breeds. It’s also great tasting milk,” added 28-year-old Jo.

“We’ve just bought a pair of Toyota electric vans,” explained Richard. “With an 11% NFU (National Farmers’ Union) discount and the government grant we saved about ten thousand pounds on each van.

“Overall, it looks like our vans are already saving us money in running costs too. They’re only out on deliveries from 4.30 in the morning until lunchtime, so there’s plenty of down-time to give them a good slow charge. We’ve installed a pair of chargers but our long-term plan is to put solar panels up on our dairy roof to make the vans even more environmentally friendly.

Alkmonton Dairy employs five full and two part-time members of staff. Sales from its delivery business - and on-site honesty shop - are booming. “We’re starting to make a profit” said Richard, “We also still have a small contract with Muller, who takes about a third of our milk - we don’t bottle at the weekends or over Christmas but the cows don’t stop, so it’s good to have a buffer. I’d like to expand the herd to 250 and bottle more in the future,” he added.