Young and old headed to Greys Lane Farm, near Elvington, to meet NFU member David Shaw and daughter Helen and see their cows being turned out onto the fields for the summer after being housed during the winter months.
They met the 鈥榮pecial鈥� herd of pedigree brown cows, found out how they are cared for and about dairy farming, and also tried some delicious fresh milk and milkshakes direct from the business.
The Shaw family have farmed at Greys Lane Farm since 1876 and have built the business up through the generations.
They recently invested and transformed an old milking parlour into a self-service hut offering people quality, affordable, high welfare dairy products straight from the farm gate.
Recently, the Yorkshire organic dairy farm has seen a surge in sales thanks to the popularity of the vending machines.
鈥�The cows being turned out for summer after a long winter indoors is always such a magical sight.鈥�
NFU county adviser Poppy Smith
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Celebrating Yorkshire farming
David said: 鈥淲e wanted to invite the public along to see our beautiful and special herd of Jerseys being put out to pasture for the summer.
鈥淲ith the lovely warm weather we鈥檝e been having, we wanted to celebrate Yorkshire farming and the countryside, let people learn more about where their milk comes from and how we care for our animals.鈥�
Serving the community
David added: 鈥淭he milk vending machines keep growing in popularity, everyone loves buying direct from the farm and our milkshakes are a big hit 鈥� we have never been busier.鈥�
The business now has two vending machines, one which allows people to buy fresh, gently pasteurised, unprocessed, organic milk and milkshakes and another that sells their reusable one litre glass bottles, organic cheese and free-range eggs.
The family has 245 free-range pedigree Jersey cows, with 200 youngstock, on 150 hectares and they are milked twice a day.
The award-winning Jersey milk is sold to Longley Farm in Holmfirth, Huddersfield, where it is used to make various products including butter, cream, yoghurt and cottage cheese.
鈥淲e feel the self-service hut is a great way of serving the community with farm fresh milk,鈥� Helen added.
鈥淧eople can purchase directly from us with zero food miles, help reduce plastic waste by using one of our specially designed refillable glass bottles or their own suitable containers and we can get a fair price.鈥�
The fresh milk, once pasteurised, is transferred into the tank of the vending machine which steam cleans itself after every use. Milk is also delivered direct to doorstop too.
NFU county adviser Poppy Smith said: 鈥淲e have great produce in the county and it鈥檚 excellent to see David and his family having such success selling direct to shoppers.
鈥淭he cows being turned out for summer after a long winter indoors is always such a magical sight and I am delighted people were able to come along and see that and find out more about how their food is produced.鈥�
