Blog

It’s the middle of January already – yikes! We hope you had a good Christmas and a positive start to 2019. We have been quiet on social media recently, but things have been very busy behind the scenes so this is a quick update to let you know what’s ...

Now that winter has truly arrived and the cows and their calves are inside for the colder months, we thought you might enjoy a look inside their dairy shed. Our farm team built a new dairy shed about ten years ago, and although we weren't cow with ...

Those of you who live in the Highlands or Islands and have tried to place an order from our online shop will have noticed the eye-watering courier charges - getting chill packs from rural southern Scotland to rural north of Scotland overnight has ...

If you follow our posts on social media you might have noticed that for the past few months our posts have been completely devoid of sales messages encouraging you to buy cheese. It’s not that we don’t want you to buy our cheese (of course we do!) it ...

In the news today is a new report about deaths attributed to infections due to antibiotic-resistant bacteria. The report says that 33,000 people across the EU died from infections that were resistant to antibiotics in 2015, with 2,100 of those deaths ...

The Ethical Dairy in south west Scotland has announced plans to host what is believed to be the first Ethical Farming Conference, due to take place on 16 May 2019 in south west Scotland. The Ethical Farming Conference is designed to raise awareness ...

We use the term biodiversity a lot when we talk about our farming system because it is incredibly important to the way we farm here at Rainton. Put simply the term biodiversity means biological diversity. Biodiversity is the web of life; the ...

We were thrilled to be told yesterday that M&S Energy have pledged £5000 to our crowdfunding campaign to support our use of renewable energy and energy efficiency measures in our cheese dairy project. This project reduces our need for energy by ...

For David to have 10 days away from the farm is unheard of, but at the start of September there were two food festivals that we wanted to attend to showcase The Ethical Dairy’s cheese. It was important that both David and I heard the feedback for ...

First of all, a huge thank you to everyone who has donated to our crowdfunder and to everyone who has shared our campaign video. In just over a week we have raised an incredible 22% of our total! We are a little overwhelmed by your messages of ...

The reason we describe our approach to dairy as ethical is that in every decision we make on the farm, we aim to meet the highest possible ethical standards, so that includes the animals, the land, the wider environment and the people who work here ...

Several months ago, just after the excitement of the cows and calves going out to pasture for the summer, we took a moment to quietly watch them, all relaxed and happy munching away on the lush green grass in beautiful countryside. "Isn't this lovely ...

What is the best way to feed our population without wrecking our planet? David and Wilma Finlay, founders of The Ethical Dairy, are hosting a series of events this summer to explore sustainable food production. The talk and tours take place each ...

Press Release: The Ethical Dairy is to increase production of its range of cheeses made with milk from their Cow-with-Calf dairy herd after being awarded funding by the Scottish Government yesterday. Finlay’s Farm Ltd, the company behind The Ethical ...

With Brexit fast approaching and governments trying to plan for a post-Brexit food system that will address the food-related challenges facing society over the coming decades, the various players are setting out their stalls. At stake is a multi ...

One of the highlights on any dairy farm is when the cows go out to pasture in the spring. Over the past few years we’ve invited members of the public along to watch and to share in the cows’ enjoyment and excitement of spring. This year was no ...

We formally launched The Ethical Dairy this week and we’ve been thrilled with the response. The support and encouragement from members of the public, organisations, elected representatives and indeed from other farmers has been heartening, and the ...

Merry Christmas everyone. We Finlays aren't renowned for buying each other Christmas presents, far less ones for the farm animals. But this year has been an exception. Christmas morning saw the cows being treated with tummy button tickling sticks ...

We seem to have stirred up something of a hornet’s nest after writing a letter to The Guardian in response to George Monbiot’s article ‘Goodbye - and Good Riddance - to Livestock Farming’. That this is the vegan stance is a given. It may even be an ...

It has been almost a year since we re-started the final part of our ethical dairy farming system – leaving the calves with their mums while still milking them once-a-day. It would be safe to say that it has lived up to expectations, the best of times ...