Nominee Summary
In 2012, June and Gordon Whiteford began Lower Mill of Tynet Farm, near Buckie. With their dairy background, they built an egg business, then a micro-dairy in 2020, selling milk and now ice cream directly from their 24-hour farm shop. Lower Mill of Tynet Farm stands out as a model of modern, sustainable agriculture, seamlessly blending traditional farming practices with innovative direct-to-consumer strategies. It is the only dairy farm in Banffshire and the only farm within a 40-mile radius from which consumers can directly purchase milk.
The approach of your nominee
Gordon and June started with one field and, through research, including Gordon receiving a Nuffield Scholarship, have grown their business with a focus on sustainability and adaptability. They began with white eggs 10 years ago after Gordon travelled globally through Nuffield. At that time, no white eggs were going into retail and only about 0.5% of UK production was white, destined for processing. Today, 20% of UK production is white eggs, and Sainsbury's have pledged only to sell white eggs on sustainability grounds, similar to trends in Europe. Gordon and June challenged myths around eggs, that brown is better than white when it comes to health. Hens laying white eggs live longer and produce more eggs over their lifetime, and with the shells stronger and not as easily broken as brown eggs, there is less waste. They built this into a thriving business, including installing an egg vending machine. Now, with 15,000 hens, they supply local businesses and a North East packer. The success of the egg business has allowed them to diversify into dairy. Vending machines on the farm sell milk, ice cream and meat. With the vending machines allowing sales 24 hours a day, the business can attract customers outside normal retail hours. With the growth of the business, the farm employs 10 people. Although not being able to quantify the benefits to the environment of converting to organic, there has been a noticeable increase in farmland birds, of which skylarks and yellowhammers seem to be plentiful.
Overcoming Challenges
Brexit meant that the co-operative Gordon and June were planning on being a part of was no longer viable, with the export market disappearing, so the decision was made to start small and build up. The challenge was to retail their milk directly, with this setback turning into an opportunity to do things differently by installing vending machines for customers to buy when convenient for them. Gordon and June now market further afield to adapt to changing markets, with their eggs being sold all over Scotland. As tenants (on a Crown Estate farm), securing finance can be a challenge. But with the business thriving, they hope banks will see the opportunity to assist ambitious farming projects.
The impact of innovation
As well as the vending machines and a robotic milking system, Gordon and June’s approach to innovation stretches to regenerative agriculture. They intercrop wheat and peas, which provides higher yields and improves soil fertility. They employ rotational grazing for their dairy herd to maintain healthy pasture along organic principles. This has reduced inputs, and they have also made energy savings by installing solar panels and a small pilot anaerobic digestion system to convert animal slurry and manure to renewable energy as heat for milk pasteurisation. The small dairy herd produces A2 milk (suitable for those with lactose intolerance) and they run the cows with calves until weaning at the age of 3-6 months with a soft weaning approach utilising weaning tags.