Waikato farmer Chris Falconer is the first farmer in New Zealand to trial the Happy Cow system in which milk is pasteurised on-farm, then sold directly to customers.
Photo: Carol Stiles
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A keg is rolled into the dining room at Hamilton's St Paul's Collegiate.
Once it's in position, one of its buttons pours students a glass and another fills a carafe to take back to their tables.
The keg contains creamy, non-homogenised Happy Cow Milk, milk that hit the vat just a few hours before on a farm just 50 kilometres away.
It has been pasteurised on-farm enabling it to be safely sold direct to customers.
Waerenga farmer Chris Falconer is the first farmer in New Zealand to trial the Happy Cow milk processing and distribution system.
"So we get to make all the mistakes - so you can thank me later for that, but we think there's plenty of legs in it for other farmers. We'll iron out all the bugs for you, but it's been remarkably easy."
Photo: Carol Stiles
Farmers who want to supply Happy Cow milk agree to farm the Happy Cow way, with a strong focus on being green and kind to the animals.
Calves are left with their mothers, farms are stocked at rates to minimise damage to the environment, fertiliser inputs should be low and farmers are expected to graze cows responsibly in all weathers.
"It just accounts for all the attributes that people are looking for in milk these days," Chris says. "So they want less environmental footprint, they want higher animal welfare standards and they just want that direct connection so they feel they can support farmers doing the things they like to see happen on farms."
Chris says the school milk trial was a success and he will continue to supply St Paul's.
The next step is to approach cafes and other schools to see if they would like sustainably produced milk straight from the farm, he says.
The Happy Cow system was developed by Canterbury man Glen Herud who was supported by $500,000 in crowdfunding.
You can read about its history here.
Photo: Carol Stiles