Lindsay Farm's open day draws crowd

Tom Bresseleers, 10, of Waipukurau gets up close to a resident at Lindsay Farm's open day on Feb 25. Photo / Duncan Brown

Cute calves and a slippery water slide helped draw more than 300 people to Lindsay Farm Dairy's open day late last month.

One of New Zealand's largest raw milk producers, and Paul and Christine Ashton's Lindsay Farm has won the Be Pure Paddock to Plate award in the Green Agriculture Innovation Awards.

The farm has been run organically for the past 12 years and has been producing raw milk for the past eight.

Eldest daughter Ange said the open day on February 25 gave the public the opportunity to see how the 100ha family-owned-and-operated farm worked, including how the cows were milked and how the milk was bottled.

"We had a fantastic day, with approximately 340 attending the day with perfect weather," said Ange. Last year 220 people turned up to the inaugural open day, and this year people could suggest names for a new calf on the farm and have fun on the water slide.

"The waterslide and creek were a huge hit with the kids. There was a line-up most of the day to get on the slide.

"The cows were very well behaved and everyone was able to walk among them. They also got a chance to get up close with a month-old calf and they also put forward names for her. Now we have the task of choosing one for her."

Ange said St Joseph's school also did a great job manning the barbecue while the smoothies made with Lindsay Farm's milk also proved to be a huge hit, Ange said.

"Farmhouse Kitchen also came down from Havelock North and did cheese and yoghurt-making demos, which were very popular with the adults," she said.

Ange said the plan was to host the open day again next year and make it even bigger and better.