Our goat herd is made up of purebred Anglo Nubian goats, with a few splashes of British Toggenburg. Anglo Nubians are known as 'the Jersey cow of the goat world' due to the high fat content of their milk, which makes it particularly creamy and prized by cheesemakers. 

 

We now have over 160 goats in our herd. People often ask us whether the goats have names - yes, they all do! They have strong personalities and are great fun to get to know and work with.

 

The goats are fed on hay from the wildflower meadows at Earth Trust farm throughout the year. Experts estimate that up to 30% of the flavour of a cheese comes from the animals' diet, and we're confident that you can taste the quality in the cheese. We pay a lot of attention to sustainability in sourcing the supplementary feed the goats need too, and use no soya or palm oil.

 

The goats graze outside on permanent pastures during the grazing season, which usually runs from about March to October. We are very proud of the high welfare standards in our own herd, which includes some unusual features for the dairy sector, such as allowing kids to be naturally reared by their mothers until they are old enough to be weaned off milk.

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We aspire to make all our cheese with milk from our own herd but while we are still growing the herd - a process which cannot be hurried! - we also partner with another local goat herd to help us meet demand for orders in busy seasons.

 

We only use milk from our own herd to make Brightwell Ash, and we use a mixture of our own milk and milk from our partner herd to make Sinodun Hill.

 

 

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