Faced with having to pay to bring in feed, sixth-generation farmer John Fairley had the brainwave of adopting out his cattle rather than closing the family dairy.
The Adopt-A-Cow campaign was so successful, Country Valley dairy farm in Picton will now be able to feed its 130-strong herd, at a cost of $1350 per cow, until the end of September.
“I thought ‘Wow, this is going to work’,” Mr Fairley said as the donations began to roll in, with the entire herd now adopted.
“Some people put in $10, some $1350 and someone adopted five cows, one for each of his grandchildren.”
In return, Mr Fairley offered adoption certificates, naming rights and a farm visit to milk a cow and feed the calves, saying he had to “give back a bit”.
“Farmers don’t really like asking for help,” Mr Fairley said.
Source: The Daily Telegraph
