Here at White Lake Cheese, we are committed to becoming as sustainable as possible.  To that end, we have introduced a number of initiatives to reduce our carbon footprint as much we can, and these projects will continue to develop and evolve as time goes on over the coming months and years.

 

Our goat’s milk comes from our own herd of beautiful goats which are kept here on our farm in Somerset.  The organic cow’s milk is sourced from a local farm, which is just a couple of miles away from us.

 

All of the ingredients in the goat feed are UK sourced as well as being soya and GM free.  Some trace minerals may come from abroad.

 

As part of our goat’s supplementary diet, they have access to hay from unfertilised fields from the Somerset Levels.  This is rich in flowers and grasses and is more interesting for them to eat as well as being free from chemicals. We also have spectacular flower meadows here on site during the summer months, which attract a wide range of insects, birds and mammals.

 

We are currently part of the way through a four-year program of hedge laying the many miles of old and new hedges that we have here, providing a vital habitat for the wildlife.

 

Solar power is key to providing us with electricity and we have invested in two separate schemes; one that provides power to the goats and another that helps provide electricity to the cheese making facilities.  Looking to the future, we are intending to grow our reliance on solar and move away from the National Grid as much as possible.  As part of this, we have installed LED lighting throughout the building and a number of lights are on movement sensors, turning off automatically when they are not required.

 

On top of this, we have a 4-megawatt solar farm, which feeds into the National Grid.

 

The goat farm is also lucky enough to have a bore hole, which supplies the farm with all of its water.

 

Rather than relying on the grid to heat our milk, we installed a biomass boiler a few years ago.  Using wood from local renewable sources means that we can heat the milk more efficiently.

 

So far, we have planted 7 acres of trees to offset the carbon of what we are currently burning.  We will continue to plant more trees over the next ten years, increasing the amount to cover over 20 acres.

 

We are aware that we are at the head of the Whitelake river and take great pride in ensuring this is a pure source of water.

 

We grow wheat and maize for neighbouring farms on a rotation basis using minimum till and are moving towards more regenerative farming methods, using our animal manure to help eradicate fertiliser usage.  We only use bee friendly sprays on the land, and only when absolutely required.

 

The Longman family have been farming their land for nearly 100 years and fully intend to leave it in better order than when we took it on.  Our farm adjoins the Fosse Way, and we are acutely aware of our place in history and wish to preserve it.

 

Roger and the sales staff have access to a Tesla, which is absolutely ideal for visiting customers and attending meetings.

 

We try to source as many items for the business as locally as we can.  Not only is this great for the local economy but also reduces delivery miles.