Mauchline business: Mossgiel Farm's organic new facility

Mossgiel Farm, spearheaded by farmer Bryce Cunningham, is aiming to "lead the charge" against larger companies.

The farm, historically linked to Robert Burns, aims to provide sustainable, organic milk while challenging the dominance of 'Big Dairy'.

READ MORE: Transport, jobs and tourism key to turning round decline, says Mauchline farmer

Farmer Bryce has transformed the farm into a thriving business, achieving £2 million turnover and 30 per cent year-on-year growth by prioritising animal welfare and environmental sustainability.

They're now looking to raise £300,000 as part of a wider aim of £900,000 to build the new complex.

The investment will aim to allow Mossgiel Farm to double its production capacity and make organic, ethical and sustainable milk more accessible to more people.

Mossgiel Organic Farm team, Andrew McKellar, Ruth Leask, Kehinde Fasusi, Bryce Cunningham, Robyn Cunningham and Elizabeth Matthewson (Image: Colin Mearns) Bryce and Mossgiel's work over the years has included a partnership with East Ayrshire Council to provide organic milk to every school in the authority, saving more than six million pieces of single-use plastic from going to landfill.

Bryce said: "We’re not afraid to challenge societal norms, just like Rabbie himself. Mossgiel is the antidote to a broken system – industrial dairy is giving real milk a bad name and work is needed to repair it.

“For far too long, small farmers have been driven out of business as Big Dairy squeezes margins, drives down prices, and devalues milk through over processing and commoditization.

“I can’t sit idly by and let an industry I love, that has been our family’s livelihood for generations, be destroyed.

"There’s a better way, a way that prioritises sustainability, animal welfare, and transparency over profit, and Scottish dairy can be at the sharp end of it.”

Mossgiel Organic Farm. (Image: Colin Mearns) The crowdfunder, which has now been launched, will enable the farm to double its production capacity.

Farmer Bryce was recently accepted onto the Hunter Foundation’s prestigious Scale Up programme, set up by legendary Scots businessman and New Cumnock native, Sir Tom Hunter, designed to support Scottish entrepreneurs to build world class, scalable businesses, and in doing so, eradicate poverty in Scotland. 

Mossgiel's cows. (Image: Colin Mearns) Bryce added: “The appetite is there – our success shows that. Our products are in high demand, but our capacity is limited. We want to meet the moment and give people the ethical, organic milk they are crying out for.

“Mossgiel Farm is crowdfunding because our farm is for the people, and we want to get more people to join our herd.

"We want to give people the chance to be part of the moo-vement against big dairy, and to reshape the future of farming in Scotland and beyond. We can transform dairy into a solution rather than a problem. “

You can find out more about Mossgiel Farm’s crowdfunding campaign online.