AN ORGANIC dairy farm has been nominated for a national award.

Hollis Mead Organic Dairy in Hooke has been nominated for a BBC Food And Farming Award.

It is one of three finalists in the Farming for the Future category of the awards.

Hollis Mead is an organic dairy farm whose ethos is to produce high quality organic milk and food whilst enhancing the environment for wildlife.

Nature is allowed to take its course and no pesticides, insecticides, herbicides or artificial fertilisers are used. The farm has 12 miles of hedges and is seeing a rise in insect and bird life gone up dramatically – all being monitored by Dorset Wildlife Trust.

Oliver Hemsley, co-owner of Hollis Mead, said: “It’s fantastic to be recognised for our work – I’m very appreciative and I hope it will encourage people to come and at least have look.

“It’s great that the BBC want to recognise this sort of thing. I’m very anti-industrial farming and cheap food, I'm all about looking after the planet and paying a good price for well produced food that’s kind to animals and the planet.

“We want to win the award, we want a really nice BBC sticker to put on our product."

He added: "It would be great to be recognised as we’re making a huge effort to do this the right way. People are welcome to visit the farm, try the products and see how we treat the cows."

Hollis Mead does not use food processors or plastic and sells directly to the public through vending machines in a number of locations including one behind Liliput Textiles and Home Store. There are others in Maiden Newton Service Station,​ Beaminster, Martock, Mosterton, and Millers Farm shop in Axminster.