Alkmonton Dairy: The eco-friendly measures being taken by business that supplies Chatsworth Estate

When Jo and Richard Harris decided to start up an on-farm dairy they wanted to fulfil a dream - to supply milk as part of a completely eco-friendly package using electric vans, glass bottles and solar power, all while driving as few farm-to-fridge miles as possible.

“We began bottling milk from my family’s herd of Ayrshires and started deliveries at the start of lockdown,” explains 33-year-old Richard Harris. “Processing our own milk means we can keep control of our business and set our own prices.

“And not sending all our milk off to a processor means it doesn’t have to travel so far - keeping our carbon footprint small. Most of our deliveries are within about 12 miles of our farm.”

“I love farming and want to future-proof our farm by making it more appealing to the consumer and this means being as eco-friendly as we can,” adds Richard, who financed the dairy machinery and equipment with a business loan in 2020 after his family bought the farm in 2009.

“We grow and feed lupins to our cows - it’s similar to soya - the crop works well in an arable system, reducing the need for artificial fertilisers. This also helps to pull delivery lorries out of the system,” he explains.

Alkmonton Dairy, near Ashbourne on the edge of the Peak District, has a herd of around 200 Ayrshires and produces milk, butter and cream delivering it to almost 1,000 doorsteps, cafés, pubs and shops, including Chatsworth Estate Farm Shop.

“Chatsworth contacted us as they wanted a local milk producer for their farmshop and café. People’s perspectives have changed so much - they now want to buy things which are good for the planet and don’t mind paying a premium for sustainably produced food on their doorstep - most of the time we could all eat food produced within ten miles of our homes.

“Ayrshires produce a high quality milk - with healthier milk proteins which are easier to digest than those of other breeds. It’s also great tasting milk,” adds 28-year-old Jo.

“We’ve just bought a pair of Toyota electric vans,” explains Richard. “With an 11 per cent NFU (National Farmers’ Union) discount and the government grant we saved about ten thousand pounds on each van.

“Overall, it looks like our vans are already saving us money in running costs too.

“They’re only out on deliveries from 4.30 in the morning until lunchtime, so there’s plenty of down-time to give them a good slow charge.

"We’ve installed a pair of chargers but our long-term plan is to put solar panels up on our dairy roof to make the vans even more environmentally friendly.

“We only had the second van delivered [recently] so it’s hard to tell exactly what they’re costing to charge-up yet - but it’s looking like about £180 per month. That compares to the diesel vans they replaced which each used about £150 of diesel every week.”

The pair explain: “Like all farmers, the environment is important to us, and we aim to be as environmentally friendly as possible. Selling locally massively reduces our carbon footprint, even more so in one of our electric vans. We currently supply around 800 homes, all of which are within 10 miles from our farm."

The pair currently grow around 90 per cent of what the cows eat on their farm too, and hope to up this to 100 per cent over the next 18 months.

Alkmonton Dairy employs five full and two part-time members of staff. Sales from its delivery business - and on-site honesty shop - are booming. “We’re starting to make a profit,” says Richard, “We also still have a small contract with Muller, who takes about a third of our milk.

“We don’t bottle at the weekends or over Christmas but the cows don’t stop, so it’s good to have a buffer. I’d like to expand the herd to 250 and bottle more in the future.”

“There’s still a demand, from some of our customers, to have milk in plastic bottles, but we’re seeing this percentage continue to fall in favour of our reusable one litre and 500ml glass bottles,” adds Jo.

“Being a young couple we wanted to do something fun with the vans - so we had them sign-written to look just like our brown and white Ayrshire cows and added some ‘We’ve gone green - milk delivered by electric vehicles’ stickers.

“People smile when they see them. And we’ve been putting lots of pictures on social media too. I think this could be why we’re suddenly getting loads of new customers.”