Milk as pure as can be

 

When we look after our environment and animals, we also look after ourselves. Riverside Milk is committed to decreasing our dairy farm's impact on the planet and producing pure milk that comes from sustainable and cruelty-free farming practices. 

 

Unlike many dairy farms, Riverside Milk maintains a low stocking rate, with only two cows per hectare rather than the usual four (or more). This reduces our environmental impact and gives pastures and soil biology the resilience to rejuvenate and regenerate much more quickly.

 

Our pastures contain plenty of plantain, chicory, tall fescues and red and white clover alongside the conventional ryegrass cultivars. This ensures good cow health and nutrition and minimises the need for any inorganic nitrogen fertiliser through the natural nitrogen fixing in the clover root nodules. 

 

Our dairy farm is not irrigated, uses less water and has dramatically reduced runoff and leaching. We are acutely aware of our responsibility to protect our waterways and are committed to further implementing practices to reduce our farm's environmental impact. 

 

We assist the health of our cows by giving them plenty of rest from milking each year. Our farmers also like to ensure their diet is nutritious and healthy by letting them graze on resilient, biologically managed pastures. There is nothing better than a mix of organic fish fertiliser (yummy!), worm juice and molasses to feed beneficial microbes in the soil and make a cow smile...

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While Riverside Milk is strictly not a registered organic dairy farm, we endeavour to implement environmentally friendly and sustainable farming methods and avoid using harmful substances such as herbicides whenever possible. 

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Furthermore, unlike most dairy farms, we don't trade in 'bobby calves'  (calves are considered and treated like a waste product and are born only to be slaughtered for human and pet consumption). We keep all our calves (males and females) and raise them on our farm. While we will sell some of them later in their life (when they are at least one year old), we do not send them to slaughterhouses and meat works (unfortunately, the reality for most calves on conventional dairy farms).

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Our Riverside Milk Farmers know each cow personally and are opposed to animal cruelty and using any means which may hurt or endanger their animals. When we say that our cows are happy and healthy, it's not a marketing phrase but the result of everyday observations and interactions...