Yeo Valley organic cows grazing on grass in the valley field

What Organic means to us

Thursday 19th September 2019

As organic farmers, taking care of the land and treating the soil like the ecosystem that it is, is vital. After all, our lives depend on it! That means we feed it what it needs so that it can give us what we need.

For example, organic standards mean you can’t use a nitrogen fertilizer so we use clover instead. Clover is considered a nitrogen fixing plant, meaning that it will take nitrogen from the air and get it into the soil so that our crops and grass can use it to grow.

Organic is great for the ecosystem and community dynamics within our wildlife. Without widespread chemical use, organic farms tend to have high levels of wildlife – on average 50% more than on other kinds of farms – from the smallest beetle right up to barn owls and sparrow hawks. We help this along by looking after habitats like hedgerows, giving wildlife the space to thrive!

Organic cows absolutely have to be genuinely free range and spend most of their time outside grazing on grass. In fact, their total diet must be at least 60% grass-based (but we aim for far more!). We bring our cows into the sheds for the winter – they don’t like the cold and wet any more than we do!

Our organic dairy contains high amounts of beneficial minerals and omega-3, but will never have GM ingredients or anything artificial added… Plus it tastes great!

Comments on “What Organic means to us”

  • We have only recently started buying Yeo products, it is really good to read about your farming methods and animals.We are looking forward to coming to one of your open days next year,(hopefully!).

    Clive on 23rd November 2020 at 10:08 pm

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