Scottish farmer turns family dairy into 1.5m-litre organic business

Bryce Cunningham has transformed his family dairy into Mossgiel Organic Farm in Mauchline, which now employs more than 40 people and processes about 1.5m litres of organic milk a year. Cunningham had worked as a technician for Mercedes-Benz before returning home when several family members fell ill.

After his father died in 2014 the milk price collapsed from 27p a litre to 9p, producing a loss of £100,000 over his first 6–12 months of farming and leaving the business with large debts. Faced with the choice to sell up or try something different, he reduced the herd, shifted to organic production and moved from supplying supermarkets to direct sales and returnable packaging.

Mossgiel grows grass without pesticides or artificial fertilisers, does not feed GM crops, and follows a cow-with-calf system. Its milk is pasteurised slowly at lower temperatures to retain a rich, creamy flavour while meeting safety rules that ban raw milk sales in Scotland. The farm supports five other organic farms by buying, processing and distributing their milk; it reuses glass bottles and tubs, mixes spent coffee grounds and other bio-waste into compost, and uses cacao husks to produce chocolate milk.

On-farm renewables include a biomass boiler and solar panels that charge electric delivery vehicles.

Key Topics

Business, Mossgiel Organic Farm, Bryce Cunningham, Mauchline, East Ayrshire, Organic Milk