NFFN farmer Matt Elphick explains how he transformed an old electric vehicle into a quirky outlet for his dairy produce - and the effect it has had on his farm.
Like many small-scale farms and producers, diversification and direct sales were the only way we were ever going to create a successful farming business. The way in which we do that has changed and evolved over the years in response to different challenges. My partner Betsie and I are tenant farmers of the Countryside Regeneration Trust. On our 52-acre Surrey farm we milk around 25 Dairy Shorthorn and Guernsey cows. We also have a flock of 80 laying hens and have recently ventured into rearing pigs.
With many years’ experience in the conventional dairy industry, I wanted to create something different, or at least more unusual: a small, nature-friendly dairy with the cows predominantly grass-fed, milked once per day and rearing their own calves. Farming in this way, at this scale, was never going to be economically sustainable if we sold our milk to a dairy processor. Our plan was always to process and sell all of our milk directly to the end consumer to maximise value and be in control of its price point.
Our main challenge with selling direct is farm access. Unfortunately, our non-farming neighbours own the farm's driveway, which limits what we are able to do. So, in 2020 when we started Nutfield Dairy, we bought an old electric milk float to deliver our milk to our customers’ doorsteps. If people couldn’t come and buy milk from us, we would take it to them.
