Buttercup Dairies is owned by Neil and Glenda Gray. Farming is very much a family affair for the Gray's.
Neil's Great Grandfather George Gray settled on the Hauraki Road farm in 1911. The farm at that stage was not in pasture, the cows roamed in the bush and were milked by hand. The original cowshed is the old red barn on the corner of Hauraki and Ngataipua Road's. The farm was covered in Kahikatea stumps, Puriri stumps, and rushes. This was cultivated with horse and plough into pasture. George and his wife Alice (nee Challis) raised a family of six on the farm before moving on to Mangatarata where they farmed until their retirement, leaving the running of the Turua farm in the capable hands of their eldest son Fred. |
The original cowshed is the old red barn on the corner of Hauraki and Ngataipua Road's. |
Fred was born in 1910 and apart from his first year he spent his entire 83 years on the farm. He married Edith White, (known as Pip), and raised a family of 3. Tom (Neil's dad), Alison and Val.
Tom also spent his whole life on the farm. His earliest jobs included collecting and washing the duck eggs before school and on weekends washing the wooden stools and rails in the walk thru cowshed. Tom loved working on the farm and skipped school at every opportunity to do so. Neil and Glenda began farming since leaving University in the early 1980's, and purchased the home farm in 1996. Since then they have added 3 neighbouring blocks of land to get the commercial herd of 550 that are farmed today. They have raised 3 daughters, Phillipa, Teagan, and Libby, and are very grateful for the opportunity to raise children in a rural environment. They are also very proud that Teagan will be the 5th generation of Gray's to farm this land. |
Hours7 DAYS: 7am - 7pm
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ADDRESS124 Hauraki Road Turua
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