Welcome to our family farm!
We feel very blessed to call our farm home and are excited to be able to share part of it with you.
Our estate is a 5000 acre hill farm located in the Muirkirk Uplands of East Ayrshire. All of the land surrounding Dippal Lodge is classed as Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI), and is home to rare bird species and wildlife along with our Herdwick and Welsh Mountain sheep.
Our farm’s story started in 2003 when, aged 17, David moved to Muirkirk from Devon the month after passing his driving test. Over the years he expanded the business and in 2012 met me, Cora at the Highland show. We now have two young sons, Lynton and Cassian who are already budding farmers and are out helping on the farm every day.
For hundreds of years there has always been a building on the site at Dippal Lodge. Originally this would have been a dwelling for a shepherd and his family. In 1998 the ruin of a cottage was rebuilt as a lunch hut for shooting parties, when the farm used to be run as a grouse shooting estate.
In 2018 I started to look into the Ayrshire LEADER funding programme for farm diversification. In 2019 we were awarded a grant for agritourism and could breathe some new life back into the building, along with some much needed love. David and I had always wanted to do something with the building, as even when out in the pouring rain for a sheep gather the area at the Dippal is beautiful
We decided on the name Dippal Lodge as the Dippal burn runs past the site and on the lapwing as our logo as it is one of the birds of high conservation concern that you can see in the area. As part of our farming system we have entered into a lot of agri-environment schemes to improve the habitat for all species. Over the last few years we have also undertaken a huge peatland restoration programme with the RSPB to improve the farm’s carbon capture.
To keep up to date with the goings on at Cooper Farms please follow our blog
Best wishes,
David, Cora, Lynton and Cassian
For hundreds of years there has always been a building on the site at Dippal Lodge. Originally this would have been a dwelling for a shepherd and his family. In 1998 the ruin of a cottage was rebuilt as a lunch hut for shooting parties, when the farm used to be run as a grouse shooting estate.
In 2018 I started to look into the Ayrshire LEADER funding programme for farm diversification. In 2019 we were awarded a grant for agritourism and could breathe some new life back into the building, along with some much needed TLC. David and I had always wanted to do something with the building, as even when out in the pouring rain for a sheep gather the area at the Dippal is truly breathtaking.
We decided on the name Dippal Lodge as the Dippal burn runs past the site and on the lapwing as our logo as it is one of the red list birds that you can see in the area. As part of our farming system we have entered into a lot of agri-environment schemes to improve the habitat for all species. Over the last few years we have also undertaken a huge peatland restoration programme with the RSPB to improve the farm’s carbon capture.
To keep up to date with the goings on at Cooper Farms please follow our blog
Best wishes,
David, Cora, Lynton and Cassian