UK farm swaps milk for cow cuddles as floods, food prices take toll
Charleigh Gartell takes part in a 'cow Cuddling' experience at Dumble Farm.
Photo:
OLI SCARFF/AFP
By Marissa Davison for Reuters
Years of floods and low food prices have driven a dairy farm in England's northeast to stop milking its cows and instead charge visitors to cuddle them.
Dumble Farm started as a dairy farm in the 1970s, but in recent years, flooding washed out crops and killed off the type of grass the cows like to eat, while milk prices below cost of production proved an insurmountable challenge.
"The amount of flooding and the pressures on our land were just making it unsustainable for us to carry on," said farm co-owner Fiona Wilson.
Agriculture is one of the sectors worst-affected by climate change, with farmers in Europe and elsewhere suffering under increasing heat, drought and flooding. In 2022, Dumble Farm sold all but a few of its dairy cows and, in a scramble to re-invent itself, began offering "cow cuddling" experiences to fund a wildlife conservation scheme.
For £95 (NZ$213), visitors can cuddle, brush and stroke the cows, as they lie down on a straw-covered enclosure inside a barn. The experience includes a safari to see Highland cattle.
"It's been so worth it, just to get so close to the cows, and they are so loving and gentle," guest Emma Hutton, 25, said, after she spent some time cuddling one of the cows.
It took more than a year to train the cows to feel comfortable with cuddling, but now the animals have fully adjusted, farmer James McCune said.
"They like being pampered," he said. "They are like big dogs... it's more of a spa day for the cows.
"The farm uses the proceeds to create habitats to protect wildlife and support declining species, such as lapwing birds.
"It's great that we can fund the conservation scheme by having visitors to the farm and that's really the bigger picture."
- Reuters
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Daily Mail
27 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Former Disney Channel child star branded as 'unrecognizable' after shocking transformation
She was once known as the brainy Olive Doyle on Disney Channel's A.N.T. Farm, but Sierra McCormick looks completely unrecognizable today. Now 27, the former child star has undergone a jaw-dropping transformation, swapping her squeaky-clean Disney image for a bold, edgy look that's left fans doing a double take. Sierra, who rose to fame in the early 2010s with her breakout role on A.N.T. Farm, has since pivoted to more serious parts. She has been in indie films like The Vast of Night, the psychological horror We Need to Do Something, and popular TV show American Horror Story. With her career shift has come a striking new image. The actress no longer sports her long blonde locks and the colorful wardrobe that she once did on A.N.T. Farm. Now, in its place is a modern red bob, dramatic eye makeup, and a more mature fashion sense that's a far cry from her Disney roots. Fans were stunned when recent photos of the actress began circulating online, with many admitting they barely recognized her. Sierra, who rose to fame in the early 2010s with her breakout role on A.N.T. Farm, has since pivoted to more serious parts In 2022, the actress shared pictures of her younger self and herself 'cringe' and 'insufferable.' However, some people in the comments didn't agree with her critiques. 'You were such a cute kid,' someone wrote. Others were shocked to see the old pictures and started to connect the dots on who the actress was. 'Is this the girl from A.N.T. Farm or am I crazy?' someone questioned. 'Oh my god, [I] didn't realize who you were at first you look so different! But so gorgeous,' another person commented. 'OLIVE?' multiple users wondered, referring to her character's name. Another said: 'GIRL FROM A.N.T. FARM!? HOLY MOTHER F**KING S**T.' With her career shift has come a striking new image. The actress no longer sports her long blonde locks and the colorful wardrobe that she had during her Disney days Now, in its place is a modern red bob, dramatic eye makeup, and a more mature fashion sense that's far from her Disney roots. She's seen in A.N.T. Farm 'I literally was about to say, "You look like Olive from A.N.T Farm," and then I was like, "Oh, this is Olive from A.N.T. Farm."' 'DID NOT RECOGNIZE YOU,' a different person expressed. 'Bro, I didn't even recognize her,' another wrote. Someone else said: 'It took me a second to realize who this was.' 'I didn't recognize her until the flashbacks [what the f**k],' another person admitted.
Daily Record
27 minutes ago
- Daily Record
Bob MacIntyre in late dampener at Travelers on first outing after US Open high
Tartan ace has water issues late in the round at TPC River Highlands Bob MacIntyre suffered a late dampener after his US Open highs at the beginning of his bid for success at the Travelers Championship. The Scottish star went straight to Connecticut from the high-drama and thrills of his near-miss at Oakmont to the final signature event of the year on the PGA Tour at TPC River Highlands. MacIntyre's opening round at the Travelers saw him make him a slip on the penultimate hole which left him at one-over par for tournament. The Oban ace carded 14 pars through his round and was sitting at one-under with two to go when he smashed a ball into the water. MacIntyre walked off with a double after that setback and signed for the 71 at the conclusion of his first effort post- Oakmont. The Tartan hero is competing for the seventh-successive week having undertaken a gruelling stretch ahead of his return to Europe. MacIntyre started out at the Truist Championship in the second week of May and has continuing unbroken through the PGA Championship, Charles Schwab Challenge, Memorial, RBC Canadian Open and US Open before making it to the Travelers. His efforts have paid off with a surge to World No.12 in the Official World Gold Rankings and a fourth-position slot in the qualifying standings for Europe's Ryder Cup side for the match against the United States at Bethpage in September. MacIntyre has said: 'If you are planning a schedule, you probably wouldn't do six weeks, never mind going to a seventh [at the Travelers]. But I make big calls and I trust what I do. I just felt that was the right thing and we've built some good momentum and then a result like this comes. Look, I've put a lot of work into this. It's not just happening through luck. I've built a team around me that I think are the best I can get and they can support me. People that are known and people that are still unknown. I trust every one of them pretty much with my life. 'I mean, this is my job and this is my life, but it's all about trust. I trust them and they obviously trust me to go out there and try to deliver, as I almost did on this occasion.' MacIntyre is due to return home to Oban for a rest period before his defence of the Genesis Scottish Open title at The Renaissance next month. Once he's done in East Lothian, the Scots hero will then across to Royal Portrush in Northern Ireland for the 153 Open Championship convinced he can do damage after his strong run at Oakmont. MacIntyre believes he can seriously contend and, straight after the US Open, said: 'There's no reason why I can't win a major championship in my career and that's my goal now. I said I wanted to win the Scottish Open and I got that. I just want to win Majors now.'
The 42
27 minutes ago
- The 42
Callum Walsh's home comforts ahead of Saturday's headline bout may include 'goat yoga'
WHEN CALLUM WALSH last picked up the phone to The 42 ahead of his first-round knockout of Dean Sutherland on St Patrick's weekend, wildfires were raging through his adopted hometown of Los Angeles. As he jumps on a call to chat about his headline bout against Elias Espadas in Santa Ynez this Saturday, LA is once more prominent in the global news cycle: Ice's immigration raids have sparked protests and some of those protests have metastasised into unrest, the scale of which appears to vary between small beer and apocalyptic depending on the political lens through which one views it. But given the degree to which the nation's flag has emblematised defiance on one side of the barricade, it could be argued that June 2025 is not the ideal time for Walsh to fight a Mexican in California. World-rated light-middleweight Walsh, though, is quick with his counter. 'Ah, sure, look… I'm an immigrant too, y'know what I mean?' he laughs. Callum Walsh destroys Scotland's Dean Sutherland (previously 19-1, 7KOs) in the first round of their Madison Square Garden headliner. Savagery by the Cork man, who improves to 13-0 (11KOs) with a highlight-reel finish. — Gavan Casey (@GavanCasey) March 17, 2025 On paper, Saturday's opponent at the Chumash Casino is a sideways step for 24-year-old prospect Walsh [13-0, 11KOs], who took less than a round to dispose of Scottish test Dean Sutherland (previously 19-1, 7KOs) in a downstairs Madison Square Garden headliner on 16 March. Elias Espadas' record reads as a decent 23-6-1, his 16 knockout wins proof enough that the 'Latin Kid' from Yucatán, Mexico, isn't one for beating around the bush when he senses vulnerability. To read between the lines of Espadas' career, though, is to reveal a few further points of concern. He has boxed the majority of his bouts nearer the middleweight limit than Walsh's division of light-middle. In his last outing in April, he fought one of the Cork man's contemporaries — the hard-hitting Kazakh, Sadriddin Akhmedov [previously 15-0, 13KOs] — to a draw. Plus, the financial reward for facing a boxer of Walsh's profile is such that the 34-year-old has been able to afford to prepare full-time for their encounter. Two have two full training camps in such quick succession is a rarity for boxers below title contention and Espadas will doubtless enter the ring on Saturday in an unprecedented condition, physically and mentally. As such, if anyone has any issues with promoter Tom Loeffler's choice of opponent for Walsh this weekend, the Cobh native doesn't want to hear them. 'Whether it's sideways, backwards, whatever kind of a step it is, it's still a man that's training to beat me, and he's coming off a good fight where he got a draw against a 15-0 prospect,' Walsh says. 'He's literally just shown that he's capable of causing an upset, d'you know what I mean? 'He has a lot of experience and I'm getting him off back-to-back camps, so this is the best he's ever going to be: right now. And I understand that. 'I think after this fight, depending on how it goes, obviously… if I get it done nice and easy, I'll 100% be pushing to fight somebody that's undefeated, a prospect or someone else that's coming up alongside me, to show how much better I am than everyone else. But at the end of the day, we need to see how this fight goes.' Walsh switches his phone to the car speaker as he prepares to drive to training. He can't be late for Freddie Roach, the Hall of Fame coach who took a punt on Walsh when the young Irishman blagged his way from Cobh to the door of the Wild Card Boxing Club in Hollywood at the height of Covid restrictions four years ago. Advertisement There's a buzz in the gym of late, Walsh says, with the return of Manny Pacquiao: the legendary Filipino, now 46, has come out of retirement to challenge Mario Barrios in a welterweight world-title bout next month. Walsh has barely seen Pacquiao at all, however: Roach has put his stars past and present on separate training schedules to maximise the time he can spend with each of them. Roach's newer protégé, however, was on hand to greet an impromptu guest to the Wild Card last week, and one with whom he may have his own conflict of interests. 'Ah, you know what, he's actually a very nice fella, to be fair,' Walsh says of English star Conor Benn, who recently lost a compelling middleweight grudge match with Chris Eubank Jr having moved up from welterweight. 'It was actually my media day ahead of this fight. I didn't even know he was coming but we actually had a good conversation, we were there talking for a while. 'He looked at me and he was like, 'Oh, so who's in your weight class?' And I was like, 'You are! I fight at 154 [pounds].' Suffice to say that the five-foot-eight Benn, who will likely settle into the same division having reshaped his musculature to take on Eubank, didn't like the cut of his six-foot-tall potential opponent of the future. 'He was like, 'Fuck that! I'm going back down to 147.'' Walsh laughs. 'Ah, I was only messing around with him. It was cool. He was very respectful and not very [antagonistic]. Nice guy.' Callum Walsh, Conor Benn and Walsh's promoter, Tom Loeffler. Having headlined in New York on St Patrick's weekend, flying in a couple of weeks early to acclimatise to both the time difference and the weather, Walsh's bout with Espadas will take place just an hour's drive from the home he shares with his girlfriend, UFC star Tabatha 'Baby Shark' Ricci. But home comforts for Walsh will scarcely breed complacency: he has, in recent months, accidentally become a farmer, as will be evident if you are among his 209,000 Instagram followers. 'I like to stay busy, y'know?' Walsh says. 'Every time I get home from the gym, I don't like to just sit down on the couch or whatever. I just, like… I'm going constantly.' It all started with a dog which he and Tabatha rescued from a local animal shelter about two years ago. 'He was an older dog, a pitbull who'd had a bad life, and he couldn't be around other dogs. I felt bad for him so I took him home,' Walsh says. 'I got a trainer to work with the dog, and then we got a new puppy, and they're now best friends — so this dog that couldn't be around other dogs has a best friend and a good life. 'Then there was a whole chicken thing going on in LA there a while back,' Walsh adds. 'Eggs were a crazy price, so Tabatha and I were like, 'Look, we have the space for them, we have a big house and a big garden, so let's get a few chickens. 'And then those few chickens turned into these two goats…' Walsh, who comes from no farming stock to speak of, wound up building from hand a smallholding in his back garden where his ever-growing stable of animals now resides. 'They all get along, to be fair. The goats get along unbelievably well with the dogs. The goats and the chickens get along great. The only ones that don't get along are the dogs and the chickens'. (Walsh and Tabatha learned this to devastating effect during an accidental crossover a few weeks ago). 'I probably like animals more than I like people,' Walsh explains. 'I go home and they're just there, just there doing their thing: the chickens are laying eggs, the goats are just walking around being funny… The goats are honestly hilarious, like. 'This new thing is 'goat yoga' — I don't know if you've seen any of that but it's where people are doing yoga and goats are jumping on top of them. And if I crouch down anywhere in the garden to pick something up, the goats are up on my back. 'They love me because I've had them since they were babies, y'know? I had to bottle-feed them for a couple of months so, anywhere I go, they just walk behind me. 'I can never be bored now because I always have stuff to do. I'm always outside, tipping away. It's kind of relaxing, too, when you're in camp like I am now, and you can just head home and chill out with the few animals. 'And as anyone would know', Walsh says, 'the best thing in the world is when you're after a long day of sparring or training, or you're just tired, and you come home and the dogs are so happy to see you. There's never a day when the dogs are not happy to see you, y'know what I mean?' Walsh, who has knocked out his last three opponents inside a combined five rounds, reckons 'man-strength' at 24, as well as his training regimen with Roche, has imbued his punch power off each hand. Add farm-strength to the equation and there may be no stopping him. Already world-rated after just 13 pro fights, the Cobh southpaw doesn't need to be rushed. But Saturday's examination against the more seasoned Espadas, live on UFC Fight Pass (Sunday morning Irish time), is a box that needs ticking if he is to continue his ascent. 'I think it's all just coming together at at at a good time,' Walsh says. 'I'm very young still, and I think I have a lot more to offer in the future. 'I think I'm going to continue to get stronger and stronger and who knows if people will even let me fight down the road, y'know?' Walsh laughs. 'What happens if I get too strong?' Watch Callum Walsh v Elias Espadas on Saturday night/Sunday morning Irish time live on UFC Fight Pass.
