Farmers Weekly Awards 2026: Diversification Farmer of the Year

Yester Farm Dairies, run by Simon and Jackie McCreery, is the winner of the Farmers Weekly Awards 2026 Diversification Farmer of the Year.

From a traditional dairy enterprise in East Lothian, Yester Farm Dairies has become a fully fledged on-farm producer of cottage cheese, soft cheese, mozzarella, Greek-style yoghurts, crème fraîche and sour cream.

Behind this success, Simon and Jackie have spent more than 20 years diversifying their business, strategically pivoting to overcome industry challenges and make the most of new opportunities.

During the pandemic – when demand from the food service sector completely disappeared – the couple managed to adjust their business offering.

See also: FW Awards 2026: Meet the finalists

Simon says it ended up making them think differently and move in directions they otherwise might not have done.

The farming enterprise first diversified in 2003 by selling their own branded milk at retail.

In 2015, they transformed an old farm building into a purpose-built soft cheese factory, marking the start of a strategic move away from liquid milk sales towards producing value-added dairy products.

Continued growth

Today, Yester Farm Dairies supplies a growing range of products to several major UK retailers.

To support its continued growth, the business is making significant investments in new on-farm infrastructure and plans to increase production capacity to 100t of cottage cheese a week by the end of the year.

Four dairy farms have recently been issued contracts to supply the dairy, creating an important new market for local producers and strengthening the region’s dairy supply chain.

Export markets are proving a lucrative new revenue stream for Yester Farm’s dairy products, especially Europe, and the business continues to explore additional markets further afield.

Simon says the business is positioning itself to be a significant player in the UK and European cottage cheese market with capacity for further growth.

Long-term plans of building a whey processing plant on site are being discussed as a means of extracting additional value out of the whey, which is currently a by-product of the cheese production process.

Farming enterprise

The dairy enterprise on the home farm operates on an all-year-round calving system, with 350 cows supplying milk directly to the dairy. Cereals are also grown on farm, which are then used to feed the cattle.

Dairy beef calves are reared and then sold to provide an additional income stream, although the farm is also working to build up its own replacements.

Simon says: “We have been fortunate to have taken the right decisions to move the business forward at the right times – and shifted gear again in the past 12 months.

“We have done this while still retaining control of our own businesses and maintaining the family farm as the core of everything we do.

“Our core values and vision have not changed.”

What the judges say

Simon and Jackie have developed exceptional products under their own brand and for third parties. They have the potential to support the Scottish dairy industry as a significant buyer of milk.