The Milk Barn, Palmy, NZ

06/06/2026

31/05/2026

The end of the 25/26 farming season comes to a close 🎉

🥛🐄 Thanks Moo Cows!

This year has certainly been eventful and we are pretty sure 26/27 will be even bigger! 

A question that pops up - why don't more farmers sell some of their milk direct?

Short answer: bureaucracy and costs 💰💰
Long answer:  LOADS of bureaucracy, red tape and EVEN MORE costs and a heck of a learning curve. 💰🤯

But if farmers were scared of hard work and debt, we'd all be drinking water on our cereal. 🥣 Which leads us to an exciting ➡️The Milk Barn progress update 📋 A few extra grey hairs for Farmer "Builder" Goat during the first few council building inspections but all turned out well and with the amazing help of Jeremy Martin (thanks Jeremy!) on Saturday morning we now have the concrete floor down ✅

While building and farming we've also held a few tours over the last few months and we also welcomed second year Massey vet student Sophie Cu***ng onto the farm for a practical placement- it was great having you here Sophie! 

⚡ Several 2nd & 3rd year Animal Science Massey classes
⚡Cloven Hoof Group 4th year Massey vet students
⚡ Kindai University Japan students 
⚡ CEDA EDA Exchange 
⚡Kiwiway Vacations bus group
⚡ Summerst Village
⚡ Friendship Force 
⚡ MPI's Thailand delegation
⚡ Tranzit bus tour group - we can even say we have had a Hobbit to the farm! An actor on the original LOTR was part of the tour group 🎥
⚡Also a lovely German couple who were staying at Kaitahi. They were looking for a nearby farm tour so Jazz sent them our way.
⚡ NZ Galloway Society with a surprising visitor for Amy. Desrae Scown was my tutor/mentor teacher when I was a beginning teacher at Turuturu School in Hawera. It was so lovely to see Desrae after more than 20 years, she still looks the same!

31/05/2026

The end of the 25/26 farming season comes to a close 🎉

🥛🐄 Thanks Moo Cows!
You know, there are no silly questions on a farm tour, just good learning opportunities!

True story: the best question this year from an adult (who grew up in a huge overseas city and had never stepped foot on a farm) was...

"How do you tell the bulls from the cows?"

The cows are the girls. They're the ones rocking around the farm getting the job done! Milking, grazing and moooving around the farm at their leisure.

The bulls? Well, those boys have got a pretty sweet deal. Around here it's something like a roster of six months off and six weeks on.

So if you're ever unsure, just remember: the girls are busy earning their keep, while the boys are usually standing around looking important. Farm education complete. 🐄😂

This year has certainly been eventful and we are pretty sure 26/27 will be even bigger!

A question that pops up - why don't more farmers sell some of their milk direct?
Short answer: bureaucracy and costs 💰💰

Long answer: LOADS of bureaucracy, red tape and EVEN MORE costs and a heck of a learning curve. 💰🤯

But if farmers were scared of hard work and debt, we'd all be drinking water on our cereal. 🥣 So that leads us into exciting The Milk Barn, Palmy, NZ progress update 📋 A few extra grey hairs for Farmer "Builder" Gregory Goat during the first few council building inspections but all turned out well and with the amazing help of Jeremy Martin (thanks Jeremy!) on Saturday morning we now have the concrete floor down ✅

While building and farming we've also held a few tours over the last few months and we also welcomed second year Massey vet student Sophie Cu***ng onto the farm for a practical placement- it was great having you here Sophie!
⚡ Several 2nd & 3rd year Animal Science Massey classes
⚡Cloven Hoof Group 4th year Massey vet students
⚡ Kindai University Japan students
⚡ CEDA EDA Exchange
⚡Kiwiway Vacations bus group
⚡ Summerset Village
⚡ Friendship Force
⚡ MPI's Thailand delegation
⚡ Tranzit bus tour group - we can even say we have had a Hobbit to the farm! An actor on the original LOTR was part of the tour group 🎥
⚡Also a lovely German couple who were staying at Kaitahi - Chef's Table & Lodge. They were looking for a nearby farm tour so Jazz sent them our way.
⚡ NZ Galloway Society with a surprising visitor for Amy. Desrae Scown was my tutor/mentor teacher when I was a beginning teacher at Turuturu School in Hawera. It was so lovely to see Desrae after more than 20 years, she still looks the same!

31/05/2026

The end of the 25/26 farming season comes to a close 🎉

🥛🐄 Thanks Moo Cows!
You know, there are no silly questions on a farm tour, just good learning opportunities!

True story: the best question this year from an adult (who grew up in a huge overseas city and had never stepped foot on a farm) was...

"How do you tell the bulls from the cows?"

The cows are the girls. They're the ones rocking around the farm getting the job done! Milking, grazing and moooving around the farm at their leisure.

The bulls? Well, those boys have got a pretty sweet deal. Around here it's something like a roster of six months off and six weeks on.

So if you're ever unsure, just remember: the girls are busy earning their keep, while the boys are usually standing around looking important. Farm education complete. 🐄😂

This year has certainly been eventful and we are pretty sure 26/27 will be even bigger!

A question that pops up - why don't more farmers sell some of their milk direct?
Short answer: bureaucracy and costs 💰💰

Long answer: LOADS of bureaucracy, red tape and EVEN MORE costs and a heck of a learning curve. 💰🤯

But if farmers were scared of hard work and debt, we'd all be drinking water on our cereal. 🥣 So that leads us into exciting The Milk Barn, Palmy, NZ progress update 📋 A few extra grey hairs for Farmer "Builder" Gregory Goat during the first few council building inspections but all turned out well and with the amazing help of Jeremy Martin (thanks Jeremy!) on Saturday morning we now have the concrete floor down ✅

While building and farming we've also held a few tours over the last few months and we also welcomed Massey vet student Sophie Cu***ng onto the farm for a practical placement- it was great having you here Sophie!
⚡ Several 2nd & 3rd year Animal Science Massey classes
⚡Cloven Hoof Group 4th year Massey vet students
⚡ Kindai University Japan students
⚡ CEDA EDA Exchange
⚡Kiwiway Vacations bus group
⚡ Summerset Village
⚡ Friendship Force
⚡ MPI's Thailand delegation
⚡ Tranzit bus tour group - we can even say we have had a Hobbit to the farm! An actor on the original LOTR was part of the tour group 🎥
⚡Also a lovely German couple who were staying at Kaitahi - Chef's Table & Lodge. They were looking for a nearby farm tour so Jazz sent them our way.
⚡ NZ Galloway Society with a surprising visitor for Amy. Desrae Scown was my tutor/mentor teacher when I was a beginning teacher at Turuturu School in Hawera. It was so lovely to see Desrae after more than 20 years, she still looks the same!

21/05/2026

Today is Pink Ribbon day🩷. What has this got to do with The Milk Barn? Well not much but as Breast Cancer is the #1 cancer in women and we have many women followers, I can't reiterate how important it is to do your self checks and know your body and notice any differences. Even if, like me, you have no obvious risk factors, except for the fact you're a female. Saying that men can get breast cancer too - so everyone needs to be aware.

I was asked to be a guest speaker at a Pink Ribbon brunch over the weekend - public speaking is not what I consider fun but how could I say no for such an important reason. I took a handful of my Midnight Mooovers story books along and offered them for any price, the purchasers were very generous and whatever they sold for, I donated to the BCF. This brunch raised just under $2000 towards the NZ BCF. Amazing result from 35 ladies!

A recent poll on the NZ BC support page had 303 women respond - 50% (including me) initially found their lump through a self check. Some of these women who found their lump themselves had had a clear mammogram fairly recently. Finding out your breast density is another really important thing. Less than 5 women at the talk knew about their density. Super important to know, it is a double whammy & not in a good way - not only does it make pinpointing a lump on a mammogram much harder (if you have dense breasts an ultrasound and/or thermography might also be beneficial) but density also increases your risk of BC by 4-6x. ✅Add your breast check reminder to your diary right now ✅ Amy 🎀

09/05/2026

It's the farmers birthdays today! 🎂🎂 Yes it is a bit crazy that Greg & Amy share a birthday...and it often happens to fall on Mother's Day. Incredible three days doing loads of fun team activities as national finalists and being wined and dined around Rotorua. Yesterday morning we were told to wear sneakers - our Cow Manager team donned cow suits and we were let loose on an Amazing Race around Rotorua for the morning. Hilarity ensued, a few cows ending up in Lake Rotorua. The end of the three days culminated in the NZ Dairy Industry Awards dinner. Congratulations to all of the big winners on the night. Standing alongside the two other incredible finalists is something we’re so proud of - the care, innovation, and responsibility shown across the dairy industry is inspiring. Congrats to Tony Dodunski from Southland who took out the category - great meeting you👏 Also big congrats to Karl & Jess Woods, the Manawatu finalists placed 3rd in Sharemilker of the Year.

Now it’s time to swap the glitz and glam for gumboots again and get back to opening The Milk Barn. Concrete poured this week, we are so close to supplying nourishing A2 organic milk to you 💪🥛🚜

03/05/2026

While we patiently wait to be open, would you like to know more about organics?

"Learn how to make informed food choices in our “What’s Behind the Label?” webinar with Alison White from the Safe Food Campaign and Sarah Reddington from Low Toxin Rabbit.

Explore the incredible benefits of dung beetles and hear from voices like Kate White on the potential of rooks in pastoral farming.

There will also be an interview with our regular writer, nutritional therapist Paula Sharp on gut health. Whether you’re an organic grower, eater, or advocate, there’s something for everyone."

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/18Uhr8P4HE/

Organic Week 2026 Starts Tomorrow, and It's Worth Celebrating.

Our friends at the Soil and Health Association NZ () are hosting Organic Week 2026, running from 1 to 10 May, and they've put together a genuinely exciting programme worth getting across.

As the national body for the organic sector, we love seeing the wider community come together to celebrate what we're all working toward - healthy food, healthy people, healthy soil. Organic Week demonstrates this principle perfectly, and the Soil and Health team have done a wonderful job pulling it together this year.

Check out the programme here: https://organicnz.org.nz/organic-week/

24/04/2026

09/04/2026

🎊Congrats to the finalists for the Fonterra Responsible Dairy Award!🐄🤠☘️ Greg & Amy are heading to the NZ Dairy Industry Awards Nationals in Rotorua!!

We were asked to sum up our farming story in a few words -
Over the past decade we’ve welcomed thousands of visitors from New Zealand and around the world to our three generational family farm Robotic Dairy Farm, Manawatu, sharing our farming story of organic, robotic, pasture based farming and why New Zealand dairy is the cream of the crop. Our focus on animal well-being, soil health, technology, biodiversity, & work/life balance underpins everything we do. With "The Milk Barn" offering A2 milk from our organically certified farm opening in 2026, we continue our commitment to transparency, provenance, and community connection - while striving to leave the land better for the next generation.

06/04/2026

Our newest VIP of is Nicole R! Congrats Nicole 👏 🎊 Facebook comments are where it's at with almost 100 comments. Our sad Instagram page needs some sprucing up! Thanks for your comment - I made sure you were in the draw!!