Dairy farmer is officially cream of the herd

A farmer who passionately believes shop milk can be unhealthy, is officially the cream of the nation’s dairy industry after scooping a prestigious award.

Julian Courtier, of Gooseford Farm, Whiddon Down, has scooped the Farmers Weekly Dairy Farmer of the Year title.

In nine years, he has transformed a small beef and arable farm into a profitable dairy business milking 450 cows, providing him, wife Mary and two sons Chris and George with a financially sustainable farming future.

Julian said: “We are all very proud of what we have achieved from scratch in a relatively short time. We weren’t making as much as we should as a beef and arable farm. But having a clean sheet worked to our advantage because we learned from other successful businesses and the sons both went to New Zealand separately for a year and learned best practice and we have now adapted these models to be as efficient as possible.”

The farm, formerly relying on family workforce, has now expanded to recruit and train staff and create a strong team culture and has incorporated advanced technology and data and is investigating genetics to improve his herd.

However, Julian remains rooted in traditional farming philosophy including an emphasis on producing healthy milk through providing his Friesians with nutritious forage food and grass grazing.

He is also passionate about educating the public about the health benefits of ‘non-processed’ milk. Not only does he open his farm regularly to more than 1,000 people, but also has a small network of milk vending machines, providing unhomogenised milk (keeping the cream on top) direct from Gooseford Farm.

Julian said: “I admit this is my soap box crusade, but I think not enough people know the supermarkets are not being open about their milk. The milk we all buy is homogenised, which means the fat is not left to naturally separate to rise to the top, but is artificially mixed into the milk. This is effectively processed milk in reality and not the fresh raw product it’s marketed as. But it’s linked to obesity and possibly heart disease.

“We sell unhomogenised milk from our vending machines and it has a much lower cholesterol than the processed version. This was proved in the case of my mum whose cholesterol dramatically lowered after drinking unprocessed milk and her GP can testify to that.”

Julian said the farm still has plans: “It’s not yet a settled business. We want a life and to enjoy it, and keep production costs down.”

The Farmers Weekly judges said of the farm: “This is a down-to-earth, enthusiastic and ambitious family working well together. They have plans for a second unit for two sons, surrounding themselves with good advisers, with well-executed plans and are well aware of what they don’t know. They also have a good work/life balance and stage an open farm day for the general public as well as taking care of their staff.

The judges added: “Julian achieves strong profitability, and diversification into milk vending adds stability to the milk price. He has an active succession plan and the family works well together. A staff-centric approach to management and training are driving the business forward.”