Bryce Cunningham never set out to be a farmer. During childhood visits to his grandparents’ dairy farm in East Ayrshire, where they’d lived and worked since 1948, he always enjoyed a glass of milk straight from the cow. But he had “no interest whatsoever” in taking on the farm one day. So instead of following in his grandfather’s (and father’s) footsteps, he became a technician for Mercedes-Benz, spent 10 “very enjoyable” years with the company, and fully expected to remain there – until a family emergency changed the course of his life.
His father, grandfather and grandmother – the three partners in the family dairy business – all became very ill. When Cunningham returned home to help out, “I fell in love with farming a wee bit more than when I was growing up.”
Sadly his father and grandfather were ultimately diagnosed with terminal illnesses. Following the death of his father in 2014, Cunningham took over the reins of the business. But it was almost a short-lived career change.
“The same month my father died, the milk price collapsed from 27p for every litre we sold to 9p, which resulted in a loss of £100,000 over my first 6-12 months of farming.” His father had invested in upgrades to the farm – but that just added to the problems. “With huge debt and no way to repay it, our choices were to sell everything we could and stop farming – effectively just go bankrupt – or try something different.”
Cunningham decided on the latter option. Inspired by the approach to farming in his grandfather’s era, as well as returnable packaging schemes he’d seen in Germany during his time at Mercedes, he reduced the milking herd and shifted from supplying supermarkets to organic milk production and direct sales. Today, Mossgiel Organic Farm in Mauchline employs more than 40 people and processes about 1.5m litres of organic milk a year.
Traditional farming with a modern twist
The grass consumed by Mossgiel’s Ayrshire cows is grown without the use of pesticides or artificial fertilisers. Cunningham has also chosen to follow the cow-with-calf system, meaning calves stay with their mothers until weaning instead of being removed much earlier – as that works well for the farm. And GM crops are never fed to the cows.
The farm’s award-winning milk is pasteurised slowly at lower temperatures, so it retains the rich, creamy flavour of raw milk (sales of which are banned in Scotland due to potential health risks from harmful bacteria). “It’s the same experience my grandfather would have had drinking raw milk in the 1940s, but we’re now taking it across Scotland in a safe way, with a better shelf-life,” says Cunningham. “Organic farming is basically farming the way nature intends you to farm, using modern techniques.”
Increasing demand means that Mossgiel now supports five other organic farms, by buying, processing and distributing their milk. This collaborative spirit – something found across Scotland – is a key aspect of the farm’s partnerships with other businesses, and goes beyond the world of dairy. The farm is helping to close the loop on waste by collecting spent coffee grounds from commercial coffee roasters, for example, which are mixed with other bio-waste to create a rich compost. Waste cacao husks supplied by a Glasgow chocolatier are used to produce chocolate milk.
Energy is another area where Cunningham has taken action. By 2030, Scotland aims to be generating the equivalent of 50% of its overall energy consumption from renewable sources, and is committed to reach net zero emissions by 2045. The dairy industry has an important role to play in decarbonisation, and Cunningham is one of a growing number of Scottish farmers who are exploring on-farm renewables.
A biomass boiler provides heating for the farmhouse and for washing the reusable glass bottles and tubs that the farm’s milk is supplied in (no single-use plastic is used, and even the bottle seals are biodegradable). Solar panels have also been installed onsite, and the power generated is used to charge the farm’s fleet of electric delivery vehicles, which transport the milk to restaurants, cafes, shops and other businesses across Scotland.
The power of community
The journey from near-bankruptcy to award-winning sustainable business hasn’t been without its ups and downs. Lockdowns during the Covid-19 pandemic brought the hospitality sector – which then accounted for 95% of Mossgiel’s sales – to a standstill. “We went from selling lots of milk to selling no milk whatsoever.” Pivoting to doorstep sales helped the business to survive during the pandemic, but these dropped once people returned to work. “So we had to pivot again,” says Cunningham.
Just as he was getting the farm back on its feet, the energy and cost of living crises came along and “wiped out my finances, killed my cashflow – we almost went out of business again”. Cunningham decided that the path forward lay in becoming a partly community-owned business, “so we launched a crowdfund for equity”.
Almost 400 people invested, which has allowed the farm to buy new equipment to bottle and deliver more milk. In August it invited its new business partners to an Annual General Moo – a livelier version of an AGM – featuring speakers and food stalls, which showcased the farm’s progress and future plans. “It’s all about bringing the community together, trying to do things a bit better tomorrow than we did today,” says Cunningham. In time, he hopes to work with more organic farmers across Scotland, and eventually supply milk and other organic dairy products across the UK.
Mossgiel’s story, with its themes of resilience, community and innovation, is in many respects characteristically Scottish.
At a recent Scale Up Scotland event, talks by some industry leaders resonated with Cunningham. “What they said was: ‘It doesn’t matter where you are in Scotland, you’re only ever an hour away from someone at the next level to you but happy to talk to you.’” This is something he has experienced first-hand. “Whether in my brilliant community here – or an hour away in Edinburgh – experts are more than willing to answer the phone or open the door … so the Scottish business community is really quite special.
“For such a small country, we’ve got such a large number of innovators,” he adds. “We all keep in touch and support each other, and I think that’s really quite cool.”
Find out more about opportunities to live and work, study, visit or do business in Scotland at Scotland.org
