At a time when our food systems face unprecedented scrutiny, A Dairy Story offers a window into a farming innovation that brings a wealth of ecological benefits. Wilma and David’s approach, keeping dairy calves with their mothers, challenges fundamental assumptions about dairy farming while proving that compassion and commerce can coexist.

As post-production of this film concluded, the EU committed €3 million to encourage other farmers to adopt cow-with-calf dairy systems. There are more than 7,200 dairy farms in the UK. Only 21 of them follow cow-with-calf management systems and Rainton – David and Wilma’s farm – is the farm that proved cow-with-calf dairy could be done at commercially viable scale.

This family farm in southwest Scotland now finds itself the global epicentre for rethinking the ethics of dairy farming, challenging conventional wisdom about animal welfare, profitability, and environmental sustainability in equal measure.

Set against the sweeping beauty of the Galloway landscape, A Dairy Story is both a poignant portrait of two remarkable people and a hopeful vision for agriculture’s future.