Mossgiel farm in Ayrshire, is the latest dairy operation to make the conversion to organic production, receiving their certification from the Scottish Organic producers Association at the beginning of July.

Mossgiel, famously known as the once home of Robert Burns, is now run by Bryce Cunningham and his family; who look after their herd of Ayrshire cows, locally referred to as the ‘Mossgiel girls’.

Bryce made the decision back in 2015 to make the conversion to organic after deciding he would no longer be subjected to the 15p per litre prices he was receiving for the milk he produced. The third-generation farmer embarked on the two-year conversion journey to organic, transitioning the cattle on to organic diets and investing in building clover-rich swards, despite not being able to label his milk as organic before the two-year mark was reached.

A pasteuriser was installed on-farm, in an effort to develop new markets for their milk, selling directly to customers and as a result, reducing food miles and improving the sustainability of overall production.

Bryce commented on his organic journey so far: “Making the switch to organic is a big step in our sustainable journey, and we’re looking forward to working with the SOPA team to ensure that Mossgiel continues to go from strength to strength, both for us and the Mossgiel girls and our fantastic customers who have supported us on our journey so far.”

The conversion to organic is the latest in a number of life changing moves for Mossgiel, with it recently being revealed that it is also hoping to be the first farm in the UK to become a plastic-free organic dairy farm. After appealing for crowdfunding to raise money to invest in glass bottles, they have now met their funding target of £5000 which will enable them to buy 63,000 glass bottles.

Policy Manager at SOPA, Debs Roberts, commented: “It was great to see the news this week that the team at Mossgiel have reached their crowdfunding target to enable them to switch from single use plastic bottles for their milk to reusable glass bottles. We can’t wait to see what the next project will be!” she concluded.