The Finlay family have been farming in southwest Scotland since the mid 18th century. After experiencing feelings of dismay towards the food system — in terms of the growing issues of environmental degradation, resource depletion, agri-chemical misuse, animal welfare, food affordability and food security — the family decided to moved towards a radical farming model.

Supporting The Ethical Dairy

In the winter of 2012, the Finlays undertook a six month cow-with-calf pilot at Rainton Farm, Kirkcudbrightshire: an organic farm of 830 acres with 130 dairy cows. The findings from the pilot demonstrated that, after modifications to the management and farm infrastructure, a viable cow-with-calf model could be introduced following a three year transition period.

After receiving support from sankalpa for the transitional costs of moving to a calf-at-foot dairying model, the Finlays now run the first commercial dairy in the UK to be following the cow with calf method.

The Ethical Dairy, today

Following the success of their pilot, The Ethical Dairy raised over £56K in 2018 through a successful crowdfunding campaign. With almost 600 donors coming forward to help the Finlay's 'prove that there is a viable alternative to conventional dairy farming.

A year later, in 2019, The Ethical Dairy (in partnership with three others), held the first known ethical farming sector conference. The Ethical Farming Conference, opened by Mairi Gougeon, Scottish government minister for rural affairs and the natural environment — attracted over 200 farmers, researchers, academics and students from Finland, Sweden, the Netherlands, Ireland, the USA and from across the UK.