
Paul Vicary
Kent
Dairy (grass-based)
DAIRY & SHEEP, KENT: Paul’s family have been farming in Kent since the early 1940s and he’s the fourth generation to continue the family tradition in the village of Chiddingstone. Today he runs a mixed farm of 1,000 acres (405 hectares) with 800 sheep and 165 dairy Jersey cows, and delivers their meat and milk direct to customers’ doorsteps.
Paul’s father takes care of the sheep, leaving Paul to run his dairy business, aided by his teenage son who helps with the milking twice a week. When Paul set up the business along with dairy farmer Alistair Laing, they were keen to avoid milk miles and the use of single-use plastics, so the milk is delivered to local subscribers’ doorsteps in returnable glass bottles.
“We were frustrated with the current system, whereby farms sell their milk to processing companies, the milk is mixed with that of other farms, freighted around the country to centralised processing plants and then freighted back out to supermarket distribution hubs and finally on to local stores where customers drive to collect their milk in single-use plastic bottles. That’s a lot of miles for a locally produced product!” says Paul. “Our milk has travelled no more than five miles from farm to fridge.”
Having tried a range of farming systems, Paul is a keen advocate of grass-based farming, as a way to ensure that both land and animals are as healthy and happy as they can be. The cows graze outside for as many months as possible. Jersey cows are small, compared to other breeds, so compact the ground less, but they still need to come inside for the wet winter months, when they are fed home-grown silage.
Paul is a keen fisherman, and takes every opportunity to fish on his local rivers, the Eden and the Darent. He even has his own YouTube channel!
Talking Point
Now that he sells his produce direct to the public, Paul feels he’s moved from being a farmer to a food producer. He enjoys being able to tell people the story of his food, and finds that the public are interested in how it’s been produced. So he’s keen to see more communication between farmers and consumers. “I feel farmers are poorly presented and that the public are generally willing to support farmers but that farmers tend to hide on their farms and not engage.”
Declared interests
Member of National Farmers Union
Member of Chiddingstone Parish Council
Committee member of Edenbridge Angling Society
Trustee of Bough Beech resident account trust
Committee member of Chiddingstone Sports Association
Steering committee member of Eden Valley Farm Cluster