A farmer who raised animal welfare standards concerns over an ethical farming company using his land says his family feel ‘bruised’.
John Turner removed his livestock from Grange Farm, at Little Bytham, in April 2021 to host Ahimsa Dairy Foundation, a Hertfordshire-based not-for-profit company set up to provide slaughter-free milk.
Ahimsa has several high-profile supporters, including The Pretenders singer Chrissie Hynde, a lifelong animal rights campaigner, who has visited the Little Bytham farm.
John Turner runs 100-hectare Grange Farm with his brother Guy as an organic operation
John raised several concerns, but felt his advice was ignored, and last November, Ahimsa took the remainder of its animals back to its Rutland dairy farm at Chater Valley, Pilton, near Oakham.
Ahimsa invites visitors to Chater Valley to cuddle, brush, feed and milk the cows, and also runs glamping pods and cookery classes there.
“It was a disappointment because we felt it had a lot of potential and we had invested a lot of our time and effort into it,” John said.
Anthony and Judy Turner handed the reins of the farm to John and Guy after their retirement
“The whole change in the beef animals leaving had been a major undertaking. It reflects the commitment we had to the project, but ultimately it just wasn’t possible.”
He added: “It does feel that we’ve been thrown under a bus by it. We feel quite bruised by the whole experience.”
The Ahimsa foundation also bought the village pub, the Willoughby Arms, for £1 million in April 2023, helped by a ‘wealthy benefactor’ with plans to turn it into a community hub.
Ahimsa bought The Willoughby Arms pub in Little Bytham in April 2023 to run as a B and B and bakery but its doors are closed
A bakery and children’s nursery were mooted, but its doors have remained closed for much of the last 18 months.
John and his brother Guy are the fourth generation of Turners to farm at Little Bytham, which was run as a dairy farm from the 1960s to 2004 and then for beef from 2004 to 2021.
As he looked ahead to future retirement, he said Ahimsa seemed to fit with a future vision for the organic farm shared by John and his four children – three of whom are vegetarian or vegan.
Volunteer Yamuna Soto took this picture of cattle standing in a barn covered in manure. Ahimsa say it was taken just before a layer of fresh straw bedding was added to the top
John had worked with Ahimsa before to help improve their grassland at its other Rutland base in Manton.
“I was starting to make plans for my retirement and the next generation to come in,” said John.
“The concept of a slaughter-free or meat-free sector within livestock was a really interesting one, just to try and understand how that might work and if there was a sufficient market to support it.
John Turner complained that cows with terminal conditions had gone through unnecessary suffering, but Ahimsa said it had drawn up a euthanasia policy. Photo: Yamuna Soto
“If that was successful then it would go a long way to closing that gap between livestock farming and the vegetarian and vegan element within tomorrow’s customers.
“It’s a growing base, and very principled and ethical, so it’s an important one.”
They agreed to let Ahimsa lease their land, initially for two years and beyond if successful, and provided advice.
Cows graze on mouldy feed. Photo: Yamuna Soto
“At the time we felt they were very enthusiastic amateurs and there was a lot of scope for improving things,” said John.
Ahimsa promotes itself as the ‘pinnacle of animal welfare’, and an alternative to conventional dairy farming.
But John’s concerns for animal welfare at Little Bytham grew when their advice over three or four ‘major incidents’ was ignored, particularly over injuries caused by horned and non-horned cows sharing small spaces.
John’s main concerns were over keeping horned and non-horned cattle in small spaces. Ahimsa say the injury happened after a ‘play fight’ in an open field and was ‘mostly healed’ a week later. Photo: Yamuna Soto
“What we found was that their practice wasn’t as good as that of most commercial dairy farms,” he said.
“We provided advice and guidance, wherever we could, to try and steer them towards what we thought was a better model and meet those higher standards they were aspiring to.
“While they (lessons) were accepted, we never felt they were acted on.
Ahimsa say that animals are treated promptly when injuries occur. Photo: Yamuna Soto
“The same issues were reoccurring and we felt it was getting to the point where there was an unnecessarily bad standard of animal welfare.
“Male animals, particularly, were dying far too young through injuries inflicted on them.”
John also raised concerns over issues such as the quality of feed and Ahimsa’s anti-euthanasia stance.
“Once we domesticate an animal, that animal is reliant on us 100 per cent to look after it, feed it, make sure it’s nourished and all the five freedoms – with freedom from suffering a principle part of that.”
John said his advice to bring in an experienced manager also went unheeded.
“We got the impression that they were going to do it their way, particularly in terms of training, and the experience of the people that were tasked with looking after the animals.
“Quite often it was done by volunteers with very limited experience.”
Things came to a head last summer when John gave Ahimsa options to continue at Grange Farm with a manager, take their dairy herd back to Chater Valley and allow him to manage the male herd, or leave altogether.
The dairy herd left last May, and the male animals followed in November.
John wrote to Hynde in person in May.
“We explained that we’d not turned our backs on the principles of the project and that Ahimsa had not been kicked out, because that was the narrative that was being generated,” he said.
According to the Bureau of Investigative Journalism, the musician was withdrawing her support ‘immediately’ after being told about the complaints.
But Ahimsa director Sanjay Tanna told LincsOnline that its supporters, including Chrissie Hynde, had been “reassured” by its online response to the Bureau’s article.
“Photographs can easily be misread when the full circumstances and setting are not explained,” he said.
He also said that the Soil Association had just renewed its certification and that Defra had found no welfare concerns, adding “they are fully satisfied with our operations”.
Ahimsa responded last month by saying they had made “many mistakes and learned many lessons in the last 14 years”.
Mr Tanna said there were “many challenges” in working with animals with horns and over cows’ end of life, but an end of life policy had been produced after consulting vets and an expert in animal rights law.
“We are still trying to navigate through sensitive and emotional areas such as euthanasia and care for sick and dying cows,” he said.
“I acknowledge we have a number of improvements to make. However, in our 14 years of operation, we have not sent one animal to slaughter.
“We believe every animal has a right to life and we distinguish between animal welfare and animal rights.”