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lockdown customers seem to have understood more than ever the value of milk and having it available every day . We ’ ve had customers pick up the phone or contact us by letter , text or email thanking us .’
‘ It is a source of extreme pride seeing your pint of milk or plastic bottle in village shops such as at Skirlaugh . We are now using recyclable plastic bottles , which works as being more sustainable as long as customers look after the bottles . We have looked at the whole picture and believe R-HDPE plastic is the
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more sustainable way . It cannot be environmentally right to import glass bottles from China , hauling all that weight tens of thousands of miles . A lot of people complain about plastic but are unaware of the recyclable aspect .’
Eric and Mathieu run the dairy herd and know all of their cows by name . Milking times are at 7am and 6pm , now taking an hour and a quarter . Prior to the new parlour it took 3 hours .
‘ In addition to our 200 acres here at Stud Farm we also rent a further 90 acres for grazing ,’
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says Eric . ‘ When Sue and I started in the 1970s our herd average was 3000 litres . It ’ s now between 9000-10,000 and we don ’ t push them for it either . We graze them and feed dairy cake , silage and brewers grains . KW Alternative Feeds supply Trafford Gold which is a great diet supplement . The cows go out in mid-April and are back in during October . We strip graze , moving them every 2-3 days .’
Looking after the land is another of Eric and Sue ’ s priorities .
‘ Our land type is clay . We use farmyard manure on the land ,
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which has improved and continues to improve soil structure . The nutrients in the manure are what make all the difference . I remember the times when helicopters would crop spray chemicals on the land . Manure makes much more common sense .’
The Varleys have around 60-70 acres of arable land that
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grows winter wheat , winter barley and beans . Lord Bethel ’ s Rise Estate handles all of the work . Grass is cut by local man Neil Buckton .
Eric and Sue have been bottling milk for 39 years . Eric was 7 years old when his parents moved to Stud Farm from nearby Bewholme .
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