Blog

It’s very easy to get caught up in what’s happening on the farm especially in the last couple of months with the spring calving season, silage collection and finding our feet again after losing such a vital part of our team. I would like to take a ...

Wilma Finlay (née Dunbar), co-founder of Cream o' Galloway and The Ethical Dairy, died on 30th March 2025, at Rainton Farm, Dumfries & Galloway, aged 69. Energetic, determined, and compassionate, Wilma set out to make a difference. She founded two ...

It never ceases to amaze me that by trying to better understand the needs of natural systems and working with them, the outcomes (eventually!) are invariably good. Not just good, but even better than when we try to control nature. Okay, what am I ...

As many of you will know from following our story the transition to a cow and calf contact system has often encountered a few hurdles along the way. And a huge part of the journey has been the amount of learning that we have all done, in terms of ...

There’s a bit of a stooshie going on about the farmer owned, milk co-operative Arla and its involvement with a ‘sustainable technology’ development company Royal DSM (Dutch State Mines). The controversy centres around the possible insistence that ...

Sometimes the day to day busy-ness of running the farm and the cheese dairy mean you just don't take the time to step back and see the bigger picture. As the darker nights and cold frosty mornings arrive, with the cows and calves tucked up warm in ...

Thank you to everyone who placed cheese orders with us, we hope you had a wonderful Christmas. ___ The order deadline for delivery before Christmas has now passed. If you are looking for a gift idea, we have several options that can be sent digitally ...

Regenerative Farming & Sustainable Diets is a new book, published a few days ago, that includes a chapter David has authored. This book brings together the world’s leading experts to challenge the status quo and to highlight pathways to a global food ...

Blessed are the Cheesemakers, so the saying goes. On the whole cheesemakers are humble people who don’t like blowing their own trumpet, and like most of us they focus more on criticism than praise. Today was the exception. A Special Delivery ...

David's father - James Finlay - recently passed away, just a few weeks short of his 101 birthday. James was a remarkable man who lived an active and very full life. Ten years ago, in his early 90s, James gave a talk about cheese making at Rainton ...

It’s weird the stuff the media picks up on, don’t you think? I mean, we’ve seen these leeches for years on the farm. They’re a bloody nuisance! Coming down the water pipes from the farm reservoir and getting stuck in the inlet valves of the cattle ...

Here’s everything you need to know about ordering cheese from us for Christmas 2023. We will update this blog regularly in during November and December. Final Delivery Dates The final order deadline has now passed. Final deliveries will take place on ...

One of the best things about the nights drawing in is the prospect of winter markets and Christmas fairs. We are planning on taking part in quite a few this winter, and as we book them in the diary, we'll update the list of events below. 5 Nov ...

I must say I’m in complete awe of the traffic on the crowded streets of Denpasar, Bali, Indonesia. For every car there will be at least 20 motorbikes all travelling at between 5 and 20 mph. The roads are narrow and while the flow is for left-hand ...

UPDATE 7th October 2023 Cream o’ Galloway Visitor Centre will be re-opening on 14th October under the new management of Brymor Ice Cream from North Yorkshire. Paul Hodgson, who is the owner of Brymor, is familiar with Dumfries and Galloway, having ...

I’ve just finished reading a fascinating and depressingly familiar story of how the corporations are selling us highly addictive and life-threatening products, quite legally. The book describes how addictive substances are dressed up as food but have ...

We've pulled together a list of markets and events we're attending over the summer, organised by location. We will update this as the summer goes on. Dumfries & Galloway Sunday 2 July Dumfries Farmers' Market Saturday 15 July Whithorn Beer & Cheese ...

It came as a surprise to be invited to sit on an advisory group to the UK’s Climate Change Committee. I was asked to take part as a representative of small food businesses in Scotland. I wondered, ‘had everyone else declined?’ While I felt we did ...

David and I have never seen ourselves as authors. We still don’t. Yet it’s becoming increasingly clear how powerful books are in changing minds and influencing policy. We all relate much more to an individual story than to stark statistics and I’m ...

One of my main tasks as Dairy Manager is maintaining the mobility of the herd. It is my firm belief that good mobility leads to good nutrition which in turn leads to good health. Cows with good feet and good mobility are able to walk without pain and ...