Ford Farm adds mobile milking to its supplies

Ford Farm, a West Dorset Based cheesemaker has announced that it has recruited ’Prospect Farming’ as its latest milk supplier. Prospect Farming is a new dairy business that has revived the age-old ’Hosier’ method of milking - a process that takes the milking parlour out into the fields instead of the cows to the milking parlour.

The Farm is a partnership between two West Country farmers, Tom Foot and Neil Grigg. They have rented a 900 acre farm between Bridport and Dorchester for their 580 strong herd of Jersey and Friesian cross-bred dairy cattle, and signed an exclusive contract with neighbouring Ford Farm, to supply milk for the production of their award-winning PDO West Country Farmhouse Cheddar.

Tom and Neil believe they are the only dairy farmers in the UK to milk in this way on such a large scale.

The Hosier process was a method developed back in the 1920s by Arthur Hosier, a Wiltshire Farmer, in order that he could keep his cows free ranging all year round by milking them outside in portable milking bails. The milk from this simple, low-cost system was deemed to be remarkably healthy, as were Hosier’s cows who were able to graze all year round on a wholly natural diet. So pure was his milk that it was recommended for use in London hospitals as a health food.

’We have invested in a mobile milking parlour system which we take out into the fields to where the cows are grazing, says Neil, commenting on the process. ’This has all sorts of benefits for the cows. It means we don’t have to walk them, sometimes considerable distances, to the milking parlour. This helps to keep the cows in excellent condition enabling them to produce quality milk with a high butterfat and protein content.’

In addition, our milk is produced only from grazed grass and is delivered to the Ford Farm Dairy within a couple of hours, which ensures our free range milk is a fresh as it gets!’

Both partners are from farming backgrounds and Neil also has the added bonus of accountancy qualifications. ’We didn’t have the capital required to invest in a conventional dairy farming system so by speaking to other helpful dairy farmers and thinking laterally we have developed an alternative idea based on an historic concept. When we researched Arthur Hosier’s dairy systems, we knew this was the route we wanted to take. ’

Martin Crabb, Operations Director at Ford Farm is delighted to have the Prospect Farming Partnership on board as a supplier. ’The Farm fulfils our criteria on many levels. The herds are literally on our doorstep which means the milk is truly local. Because of the system, the milk will be of a particularly high fat content all year round which means we will achieve a consistently high cheese yield.’