She has always been passionate about food. A farmer's daughter, she had hoped to study catering and hospitality, but ended up going to agricultural college so she could work on her parents' dairy farm when her father's health began to fail.
Butchery
After marrying James, the couple bought The Langton Arms and Barbara juggled running the pub with raising her family, becoming more involved in the farm when the butchery opened, followed by the on-site farm shop.
The Cossins have been farming in the Tarrant Valley since 1877 and have a long tradition as milk production wholesale suppliers since 1910. James began working on the farm in 1978 and hopes their son, Henry, who is currently working for a local agricultural supplier, will become generation number six. They use a grass-fed system for their cattle, with the milkers grazing in the summer months on the naturally lush and mineral rich pastures of the Tarrant Valley, while the beef animals receive grass and maize silage in the two months before they leave the farm.
Milk from the dairy herd is sold through contract to Arla, while the traditional, hardy breeds are reared to go through the farm's butchery. They breed their own dairy replacements and James uses Aberdeen-Angus and Hereford bulls on the remainder of the animals.
"What we are looking for within our own little butchery is small animals. They go to the local abattoir at about two years old as we can't really cope with big animals,' James says.
"Ideally, we require about one-and-a-half a week, which over a year equates to 70 to 80 animals which come back at about 300-350kg deadweight and goes into our shop, a few other independent retailers and the pub."
The butchery opened in 2012 after it was decided to transform a redundant building and reinvigorate the farm. Barbara employed a local butcher and the venture has gone from strength to strength. They sell their own 28-day matured beef and work closely with other Dorset farmers and suppliers to offer a quality selection of meat including pork, lamb and game all under one roof. They also sell homemade pies, sausage rolls, scotch eggs, home-cooked ready meals and Barbara's ‘delicious' vanilla ice-cream.
"Because we're farmers it was really hard getting good quality meat. I'd always wanted to sell our own meat in the pub," Barbara says.
"We had our own animals, so it was just a question of putting it all into place. "It started off being just for the pub, so diners could really experience the field to plate philosophy, but then people started coming to us and it's just grown from there, with the shop coming a little later."
Challenges
The farm is eligible for a number of environmental schemes, although determining which to go for is sometimes a challenge in itself, says James. He works closely with the Farming and Wildlife Advisory Group and is just coming to the end of his current Mid-Tier Scheme, so is currently considering his options.
There are conservation margins on the farm as well as beetle banks and they grow cover crops, including fodder radish, black oats, vetches and phacelia. But James says one of the biggest challenges has been trying to ascertain what the future of farming actually is.
"Now with Brexit done, we are hoping British consumers will want British produced foods and not rely on imports. The last year has taught us how important this is," he says.
"But if you're prepared to work hard, I think there's a good future in milk. "Other issues are meeting the requirements of contracts when you're a working farm. It's all very well having pots of flowers about, but we've got cattle and it's not always practical. Then there's trying to find good staff. People think it's hard work and poorly paid, but there are a lot of youngsters coming into the industry and we need them to know they can earn a reasonable wage, while enjoying the benefits of working outdoors and physical activity."
Opening the butchery and shop has helped raise the farm's profile locally and that has helped the family spread the word about quality produce as well as giving them a platform to explain what they are doing, how they do it and why.
Looking to the future, Barbara is keen to keep growing her initiatives. She wants to inspire other growers and producers to share their stories and in turn encourage the public to back their own local farmers.
"For me, it's all about taking people back to basics and getting people to reconnect with agriculture and farmers,' she says.
"I want to be handing over my experience. For years I didn't want to share my recipes, but now I know that I need to.
"Farmers still want to keep producing food and for that they need the public's support."
Farm facts
- 1,012-hectare (2,500-acre) mixed farm in Tarrant Valley, Dorset
- Has its own Rawstar dairy herd which achieved pedigree status in 1950
- 700 cattle
- Farm butchery opened in 2012
- Love Local Trust Local label scheme launched 2018
- Grows 728ha (1,800 acres) of winter barely, winter wheat, winter oilseed rape, spring barley, spring beans and maize.
- For information about Rawston Farm, its butchery and shop, visit www.rawstonfarmbutchery.co.uk
- To find out more about Love Local Trust Local, visit www.lovelocaltrustlocalawards.co.uk
