History
Red Barn Farm is a family run dairy farm. Bill & Wendy Hallam moved to Red Barn in 1978, with a lifetime tenancy on this county council owned farm, with their 9 month old son Richard and 20 cows.
Bill finally realised a life long ambition to own his farm, along with his Wife Wendy and Son Richard, when they managed to buy it from the council in September 2015.
Richard and Rhian, along with Bill & Wendy’s endless commitment, support and knowledge are continuing to develop the farm with exciting investments, focusing on the cows health and welfare. To produce quality fresh mootricious whole milk straight from ‘farm to fridge’ for our local community. Keeping the farm running is a true family affair with Richard’s sister Zoe doing the majority of the morning milkings, a 4am start, for the last 6+ years.
Rhian’s sister Lyndsey has also stepped in to help with evening milkings over the last couple of years.
Our Herd
We have 150 Holstein x Friesian cows. Grazed during the summer months, then fed on home grown grass, whole crop wheat and maize forage during the winter months. Our cows have additional feed to balance their diet, all soya free and British sourced to reduce carbon footprint and deforestation. No other supplements, such as Bovaer, are ever added to our cows feed.
Meet our Girls
‘Red’
One of our highest yielding cows, who knows she’s a queen, will only go in one particular parlour milking stall and comes in when she’s good and ready, the other girls all have to go around her.
Red being milked in her favourite standing.
‘Pesky’
Our naughtiest girl, who sneaks through the parlour to poke open the dairy door and steal the yummy glucose & vitamin powder.
‘Florence’
One of our younger ladies, named after Rhian’s wonderful chemo nurse, who came to visit the farm.
‘Blackie’
The friendliest heifer ever, wherever you are…. She is.
Environment
We are members of the country side Stewardship scheme and have untouched areas for wildlife habitats around the farm.
As well as embracing the new Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) scheme, we maintain green cover over winter, by growing extra grass crops to minimise our carbon footprint. This also provides additional home grown feed for our girls.
SFI also encourages hedgerow management for nesting birds. In addition to this we maintain a 3 metre grass border between hedge and crop for wildlife corridors.
Health & welfare
The cows have regular veterinary checks by our fantastic farm vet, Evan (Norcal) for general health and well-being.
Our foot trimmer, Matt comes once a month to ensure the girls have a routine pedicure at least twice a year and to help them with any issues.
Mootritious Milk
You may know cow’s milk for its calcium content, but it has much more to offer.
This complex and nutritious liquid offers a variety of health benefits. Consumption of half a litre of whole milk daily supplies a significant amount of many of the body’s nutrient requirements.
Milk components take part in metabolism in several ways; by providing essential amino acids, vitamins, minerals and fatty acids, or by affecting absorption of nutrients.
Milk fat is diverse with a wide-ranging spectrum of fatty acids and lipids. Many milk fat components have important roles in the body.
Milk protein is especially rich in amino acids that stimulates muscle synthesis, and some proteins and peptides in milk have a positive health effect e.g. on blood pressure, inflammation, oxidation and tissue development.
Whole milk may also delay gastric emptying from the stomach and possibly have an effect on appetite regulation.
Our Vending Machine
Fresh whole milk is gently heat treated to removed any unfriendly bacteria but keeping all the goodness.
It is also un-homogenised so all the healthy fats are retained and not diminished.
You may notice in the morning a layer of cream on top of the milk in its container, this is perfectly normal. So you can either scoop this off and enjoy the goodness or just give it a shake and splash it on your cornflakes or in your tea as usual.
We offer 1 litre reusable glass bottles, which we strongly recommend everyone washes thoroughly and brings back for many refills, also 2 litre plastic bottles for those wanting larger amounts and risk free transport and 500ml paper cups.
If you’re after an instant yummy treat, the vending machine will make up your choice of milkshake for mootritious deliciousness.
Flavours available include; Vanilla, Strawberry, Chocolate and a seasonal special.
Thank you for supporting your local family farm and improving your beautiful countryside.