Dorset organic dairy farm ranks alongside McDonalds at global awards
Hollis Mead Dairy are being celebrated for their commitment to sustainable farming
Last updated 15th Jul 2021
A West Dorset dairy farm has ranked alongside McDonalds for their sustainable farming methods.
Hollis Mead Organic Dairy Farm says it's 'fantastic' they can compete with big establishments, just one year after launching their business.
They've been awarded the Sustainable Food and Farming Award from Compassion in World Farming. McDonald's received the same award on a corporate scale.
Rex Fisher is one of the members of staff at the farm. He said:
"It's a global awards and we are a brand new company from West Dorest trying to do something very new and very different. So it was nice to be recognised for that.
"It's all been moving at extreme pace but because we're all so impassioned about this one goal, about trying to create something that works with nature rather than against it and creates delicious dairy products that doesn't have to be as destructive as dairy is often put to be."
McDonalds isn't the only big-hitter they're taking on. They're also up for a Farming for the Future award, going up against Waitrose.
Rex said:
"Here is a British food-making institution and we are some farmers with some vending machines in West Dorset. Epic."
The dairy launched their milk vending machine business in March last year, just before the first lockdown.
They now have 16 different machines all over Dorset, Somerset and Devon.
Pesticides and herbicides are off the menu at the farm, and cows are only milked once a day. It's all in an effort to be as sustainable and environmentally-friendly as they can be.
Rex told Greatest Hits Radio Dorset that he never saw a hare while growing up in the nearby village. But. as a result of all the farm is doing to restore nature, hares have been sighted near the farm once more.
Rex said:
"The clock with nature is ticking. Skylark numbers are at their lowest ever. Hedgehogs are on the redlist for mammals.
"That's why we're working so quickly and aggressively, and often not entirely efficiently, but we're doing our best to create something that is really special."