By midday at Mossgiel Farm in Ayrshire, the herd of dairy cows is off the clock, mingling about their space peacefully as the team works to fill another batch of reusable glass bottles with their precious, organic milk.

The milking process is carried out just once a day here in Mauchline at 9am rather than the first of many from the crack of dawn at a traditional or larger scale operation.

It’s one of the first facts we learn while touring the farmland which was famously ploughed by Robert Burns in his time, and just one of the ways in which owner Bryce Cunningham is challenging perceptions of farming in his fight to ‘take on Big Dairy’.

Pictured: Bryce Cunningham, farmer and owner of Mossgiel Organic Farm Pictured: Bryce Cunningham, farmer and owner of Mossgiel Organic Farm (Image: Colin Mearns)

“When we started out,” he explains while leading the way past the gentle, brown-eyed giants, “the feedback was that we would soon be put out of business by the big guys and that going organic was a waste of time.

“Or that we couldn’t be sustainable while running a business.

“But that’s exactly what we’ve done.”

While he grew up on the farm, Cunningham originally followed a different path to that of his predecessors, choosing a career as an engineer for Mercedes Benz.

After his father’s diagnosis of terminal cancer, he returned to the family firm in 2015 at a time when it was responsible for a total of 150 Ayrshire cows.

Pictured: A herd of 45 Ayrshire cattle can be found at Mossgiel Organic Farm Pictured: A herd of 45 Ayrshire cattle can be found at Mossgiel Organic Farm (Image: Colin Mearns)

Within his first year at the helm, during which both his father and grandfather died, the going rate for milk was just 9.6p per litre, leading to a loss of more than £100,000.

However, determined to do things differently, Cunningham has built the farm back “from the ground up”, transforming it into a thriving business with £2 million turnover, achieving 30% year-over-year growth.

It now delivers 1.5m litres of organic milk annually supplying a number of coffee shops and cafes across Glasgow which share a vision for a more sustainable future for the dairy industry.

Cunningham said: “We’re not afraid to challenge societal norms. 

“Industrial dairy is giving real milk a bad name and work is needed to repair it.  

“For far too long, small farmers have been driven out of business as Big Dairy squeezes margins, drives down prices, and devalues milk through over-processing and commoditization. 

“There’s a better way, a way that prioritises sustainability, animal welfare, and transparency over profit, and Scottish dairy can be at the sharp end of it.

“Mossgiel is the antidote to a broken system.”

Pictured: Cunnighman hopes to one day open a visitor centre at the farmPictured: Cunnighman hopes to one day open a visitor centre at the farm (Image: Colin Mearns)

Onsite in Mauchline, there is evidence of this pioneering approach to be found around every corner.

Take for example the younger cattle which coorie into their mothers within the main shed.

Whereas typical calves are separated from their dam (mother) shortly after birth, Mossgiel allows their 45 cows to raise their calves naturally on the farm, driven by concern for the welfare of their herd. 

Elsewhere, crates full of glass bottles rattle as they’re carried into the industrial-sized cleaning machine, a result of the farm becoming the first UK dairy to eliminate single use plastic.

Even the midden out back, at first glance no more than a dung pile used for fertiliser, holds its own sustainable secrets.

“Instead of seeing this as just a waste product to spread on the fields, we wanted to try and extract as much value from it as possible.

“So we started mixing the cow dung with different components to help get the composting started.

“There,” he says while pointing to the pile, “you can see coffee beans and husk which is a waste product from Matthew Algie in Glasgow.

“There are chocolate husks from the team at Bare Bones in the city too, as well as anything from fresh grass to compostable cardboard.

“It takes about six months for that all to break down, and when it goes out on the fields it’s almost like Miracle-Gro.

“The results are amazing.”

Pictured: A number of the Mossgiel Farm teamPictured: A number of the Mossgiel Farm team (Image: Colin Mearns)

There’s no mistaking Cunningham’s enthusiasm for every aspect of his work, from the equipment that has been refurbished using his expertise in engineering, to the difference in taste and health benefits that come from a ‘low and slow’ brewing process that creates a satisfying, thick cream top in their glass bottles.

There’s talk too of plans to one day introduce facilities for visitors at the farm, and the nearby Stewarton café owned by the firm where Cunningham’s mother is head baker.

At every rung of the ladder, this firm is committed to proving that going organic is no fad, and in its simplest terms means returning to basics, eschewing chemicals and pesticides so often used in modern farming and reinvesting in the biodiversity of the East Ayrshire land.

As reported by the Herald last week, the next step in this journey is an ambitious crowdfunding campaign to raise £300k to build a state-of-the-art, zero-waste dairy facility.

If successful, this will enable the team to double its production capacity – making organic, ethical and sustainable milk more accessible to more people than ever.

Cunningham said: “Mossgiel Farm is crowdfunding because our farm is for the people.

“The appetite is there – our success shows that.

“Our products are in high demand, but our capacity is limited. We want to meet the moment and give people the ethical, organic milk they are crying out for. 

 “We’ve got nothing to hide. Intensive farming is detrimental to the environment, while our methods actively restore ecosystems, helping to improve soil health and sequester carbon. 

“We want to reshape the future of farming in Scotland and beyond, transforming dairy into a solution rather than a problem."

With more than £55,000 of the £100,000 target already raised, Ross Paton, chair of Scottish Organic Milk Producers has praised Mossgiel’s “dynamic leadership in the organic sector.”

He said: “All our milk buyers are vital to our future,  Mossgiel however, as the principal exclusively Organic brand, encourage us to have faith in the future and confidence in what we do. 

“We would encourage anyone with an interest in the Organic Sector, not just Dairy, to support Bryce Cunningham and Mossgiel in their efforts to consolidate and expand their operations.

“We are particularly pleased to be associated with Mossgiel and their dynamic leadership in the Organic sector.”

After discussing the bid over coffee with a healthy glug of organic milk, I leave Mauchline with shoes somewhat muddier, a resolve to add Mossgiel to my own weekly shopping list, and full of hope that Cunningham and his team will succeed in their quest to shake up Scotland's dairy industry.

For more information on Mossgiel Organic Farm visit mossgielfarm.co.uk.

To find out more about the crowdfunding campaign, visit Crowdcube here.