The story of Portnellan farm
Portnellan occupies about 230 acres and has belonged to
our family since 1952. It is a steep farm - facing
north towards Ben Lomond, in the west of Scotland, which
means we get lots of rain.
If we tried to plough the fields to plant crops and there was
heavy rain, all the soil would land up in Loch Lomond at
the bottom of the farm. Therefore the farm is only
suitable for keeping stock – animals like cows and
sheep. We don’t have any sheep but there have been dairy cows
at Portnellan for over a century.
Portnellan is an organic dairy farm. Organic cows graze on pastures
that are totally free from artificial fertilizers, insecticides, herbicides or
fungicides. Instead, natural products such as seaweed,
lime and farmyard manure are used to increase the
fertility of the soil.
This means that the farm is full of wonderful wildlife.
The whole farm started undergoing organic conversion
in 1998
and we now sell fully accredited organic
milk. We are registered with the Scottish Organic
Producers Association and they audit our systems to make
sure that we are producing the highest quality organic
products. |
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