An Update on Our Organic Raw Milk Stock During Autumn/Winter

Why Do We Have Less Milk?

During the Autumn and Winter months, some of you may have noticed that our organic raw milk is mostly out of stock on our website. This is a stark contrast to the Spring and Summer months, where generally we are able to keep our milk in stock a majority of the time. 

In fact, milk production decreases by around a third between September and February. As you may have guessed by now, this is due to the cold weather, and unfortunately, we get our fair share of this up in rural Lancashire.

In the winter months, our cows are housed inside our 3 large sheds in order to help them maintain their body heat. However, this is still at a lower temperature than during the warmer months, meaning that the cows have to expend more of their energy on keeping themselves warm. This is why yields are higher in the summer, as our cows are able to expend more energy on their production of milk.

Why Don’t You Just Get More Cows?

Over the past few years as our organic raw milk has grown in popularity, we have kept more heifers on to become dairy cows. However, the process from a calf being born, to being a fully-fledged dairy cow, is around three years, so this isn’t an overnight process. 

We operate a closed herd too, as this allows us to ensure the health of our cows, and the quality of the milk that they produce. 

Can I Still Purchase Milk?

The milk that our cows produce is first given to our subscription customers (when we have new subscription openings, they will be on our website). Any milk that we have spare once our subscription order have been fulfilled is put into stock on our website and is available to purchase. 

When we do have spare milk, we will first put our single litre bottles into stock, as this is the fairest way of distributing the milk amongst our customers. If we have large excess amounts, we will then put our packages (8, 12, and 15 litres) into stock. 

Our milk is counted twice per day, meaning that the stock of milk reflected on the website is accurate, and if it is showing out of stock, then it is indeed out of stock. 

If you wish to be alerted when milk is back into stock, you can simply pop your email address on the relevant milk product you wish to purchase. 

When Does Milk Stock Increase?

As soon as the weather allows, our cows are back out in our wildflower meadows, which is usually around early March. This is known as ‘turnout day’, where our cows get extremely excited at being able to stroll down the lane to our meadows. 

Around this time, the milk yield also increases, at which point milk is regularly in stock on our website, and we can open our subscriptions up to new customers.