Farming Partners

What Farming Partners does

Farming Partners is a Scottish-headquartered dairy farming partnership platform that connects landowners who want their farms professionally managed with ambitious young farmers who lack the capital to own their own operations. Founded in 2011 near Dumfries by Brendan and Maureen Muldowney in partnership with Richard Beattie and his family, the company has scaled to 14 dairy farms across Scotland, Ireland, and New Zealand, milking approximately 8,500 cows under a grass-based, spring block-calving system that aligns herd management to the grass growth curve.

The core operational technology is a New Zealand-adapted share milking architecture: landowners contribute land and infrastructure while Farming Partners supplies livestock, working capital, management, and staff, with profits split 50/50. Farm managers can progressively acquire equity in the herd and transition to full Farm Partner status, an illiquid ownership pathway that has produced multiple internal success cases (e.g., David Commons scaling from 30 to 260 cows over 12 years). Supporting programmes include a Student Placement Programme feeding university graduates into the pipeline and the Farm Manager Accelerator Programme launched in June 2025, a structured 24-month development pathway.

The company is privately held with no disclosed external institutional funding. Revenue is generated through profit-sharing arrangements with landowners and through Farming Partners' equity stakes in livestock and working capital. All dairy units have reportedly been profitable every year since inception. Geographic expansion has been steady at one to two new farms per year, with the 2024 Waikirikiri partnership and 2026 Toitū Farm addition marking a clear push into New Zealand.

Name

Farming Partners

Legal name

Farming Partners

Website

https://farmingpartners.co.uk

Company type

Private

Founded year

2011

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Farming Partners is a Scottish dairy partnership platform operating 14 grass-based, spring-calving farms across Scotland, Ireland, and New Zealand, connecting landowners with ambitious young farmers via a New Zealand-inspired share milking model and equity-building pathway.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Dairy Farming Services

NAICS

Dairy Cattle and Milk Production (11212), Dairy Cattle and Milk Production (112120)

SIC

Agricultural Prod-Livestock & Animal Specialties (200)

akta.pro primary industry

Pasture-Based & Grazing Dairy Systems (AFAEACAI)

akta.pro secondary industries

Milk Production (Raw Milk) (AFAEACAA), Dairy Feed & Forage Production (On-Farm) (AFAEACAK)

Keywords

• Grass-based dairy farming
• Share milking partnerships
• Dairy farm management
• Spring-calving dairy
• Farmland conversion services

Headquarters

HQ city

Near Dumfries

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Supply Chain, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Farm Partnership Profit Sharing: Farming Partners operates on a profit-sharing basis with landowners. The landowner provides land and infrastructure while Farming Partners provides livestock, working capital, and management. Profit is shared 50/50 between the landowner and the farming partner. Farm managers can buy equity in the herd and receive profit proportional to their ownership stake.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Farming Partners operates grass-based, spring block-calving dairy farms using a New Zealand-inspired share milking model. The company partners with landowners who provide land and infrastructure while Farming Partners supplies livestock, working capital, and management expertise. Profits are shared 50/50 between landowner and farming partner, with farm managers able to progressively build equity in the herd. Operations span 14 farms in Scotland, Ireland, and New Zealand.

Product overview

Farming Partners operates as a unified dairy farming partnership platform rather than a modular software product. The core offering is a share milking-based dairy farming partnership model spanning grass-based spring-calving dairy farms across Scotland, Ireland, and New Zealand. The company connects landowners who want professional farm management with ambitious farmers who lack capital to own their own operations. Individual farms (Cumrue, Killeen, Shawsholm, Nether Garrel, Lundie, Arbigland, Dalfibble, Yeskett, Waikirikiri, Dalswinton, Almagill, Third, Toitū) operate as semi-autonomous units under the Farming Partners umbrella, sharing best practices, training resources, and the partnership model. Supporting services include the Farm Manager Accelerator Programme (talent development), Student Placement Programme, and Youngstock Rearing Services.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Dairy Farm Partnership Services
• Share Milking Partnerships
• Farm Manager Accelerator Programme
• Student Placement Programme
• Landowner Partnership Opportunities
• Youngstock Rearing Services
• Cumrue Farm
• Arbigland Farm
• Dalswinton Farm
• Third Farm

Quantifiable outcome

• All dairy units have been in profit every year since the initiative began
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers5 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature1 record

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Toitū Farming Partners LP (Christchurch, New Zealand)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2026Toitū Farm in Christchurch, New Zealand is operated as a partnership. Land Owner is Toitú Farming Partners LP, Stock Owner is Toitú Farming Partners LP, with Farm Managers Angela & Steve Reed. Year converted to dairy: 2026.
• Waikirikiri Farm Partnership (Canterbury, New Zealand)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 8 August 2024Farming Partners announced a New Zealand partnership with Waikirikiri Farm in Canterbury in August 2024. The partnership is described as a well-run, forward-thinking dairy business in the heart of grassland dairy farming. Both share core values: COWS PEOPLE GRASS, and passion for sustainable dairy.
• Universities across UK and IrelandminorOthersFarming Partners has affiliation with a number of universities across the UK and Ireland, hosting many students over the years. 5 university graduates are currently core members of the team as share farmers.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves8 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Others

• DairyNZ: New Zealand industry body for dairy farmers, promoting grass-based systems and share-milking models. Comparable as an ecosystem player that shapes the share-milking culture Farming Partners has imported to the UK/Ireland.
• Royal Association of British Dairy Farmers (RABDF): UK industry association for dairy farmers focused on succession, training, and best practice. Comparable as a peer ecosystem participant addressing the same UK dairy succession and talent pipeline challenges central to Farming Partners' value proposition.

Broad incumbents

• Fonterra: World's largest dairy exporter and New Zealand dairy cooperative. Comparable as the dominant player in NZ grass-based dairy, shaping the share-milking culture and global milk pricing that Farming Partners' NZ operations are exposed to.
• Meadow Foods: UK dairy processor supplying liquid milk, cream, and butter from British farms. Comparable as a UK dairy buyer relevant to Farming Partners' milk off-take and as a benchmark for UK dairy unit economics.
• Müller UK & Ireland: One of the largest dairy processors and milk buyers in the UK, sourcing from thousands of farms. Comparable as a counterparty and benchmark for UK dairy economics relevant to Farming Partners' profit-sharing model.
• First Milk: UK dairy farmer-owned cooperative operating multiple processing facilities and a significant milk pool. Comparable as a vertically-integrated UK dairy player competing for farmer relationships and supply.
• Arla Foods: Global dairy cooperative with major UK operations and farmer membership structure. Comparable as a large-scale dairy cooperative that provides an alternative partner path for landowners and farmers in the UK.

Regional players

• Open Country Dairy: New Zealand's second-largest dairy processor, sourcing from grass-based farms nationwide. Comparable as a NZ counterpart operating in the same grass-based, spring-calving dairy environment as Farming Partners' NZ farms.
• Synlait Milk: New Zealand dairy processor and farm operator with vertically-integrated supply. Comparable as a NZ-based grass-based dairy operator and a benchmark for the Canterbury dairy region where Farming Partners operates Waikirikiri Farm.

Direct peers

• LIC (Livestock Improvement Corporation): New Zealand farmer-owned co-operative providing dairy genetics, farm solutions, and share-milking-related services. Highly comparable given Farming Partners' explicit NZ share-milking model, NZ farm operations, and a former LIC UK manager (Daniel Turnhout) on the team.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/login
• Facebookfacebook.com/FarmingPartners
• Instagraminstagram.com/farmingpartners
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/farming-partners

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles6 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Farming Partners