We are planning to cease all milk and cream production in late 2010
I am sad to announce that after 45 years of milk production I have finally decided to cease all dairy production (milk, cream & butter) later this year. Why? Well, there is just too much work involved in milking the cows and selling the milk, cream and butter 7 days a week / 365 days a year. We cannot keep up with all the work, the returns are not sufficient to employ help and we have reached a stage of life where we need to slow down a little.
During 2009/10 our son, David, helped us to increase our milk sales and begin the sale of our beef, pork and veal. It looked like we might be able to push forward with the dairy business, but unfortunately, this was not the case. We have now decided to focus on the production and sales of our grass-fed beef and occasional veal.
The beef business requires less time and is much more manageable for us. It will be very difficult for us to end milk production after all these years, especially as we have just won a major award for our cream (see below) but we are looking forward to supplying the local community with the finest grass-fed beef we can rear. The customer feedback from our beef sales this year has been fantastic and we are looking forward to an increased supply in 2011.
I don't know exactly when we will stop producing milk yet but I will be winding it down over the coming months. Obviously in the interim we will continue to sell the milk, cream & butter plus intermittent pork, veal & beef. I will let you know more as everything progresses. In the long term we will only be selling the grass-fed beef and occasional veal from the farm.
Thanks for your loyal custom over the years (decades in some cases!!).
Ann
Punchards Farm Cream Wins Top Award At 2010 Great Taste Awards
Our Extra Thick Jersey Cream recently won the coveted 3 gold stars (the top award) at the 2010 Great Taste Awards. The competition, organised by The Guild of Fine Food, is renowned as the 'Oscars' of the food world and 'the epicurean equivalent of the Booker prize'. Of more than 6,000 total entries, only 99 products received the elite 3 gold stars award.
This is the first time Punchards Farm has entered the competition. It is a bittersweet moment given our decision to end production but we are thrilled to receive this recognition of the taste and quality of our cream from such a prestigious organisation.
For more info visit the Great Taste Awards website http://www.greattasteawards.co.uk/
"The Tomkinsons, frequently inspected, are allowed to sell unpasteurised milk direct to the public, but not to shops, so it gets sold at farmers' markets. The cream they can sell anywhere. It's wonderful stuff, well worth traveling the breadth of Suffolk for. The milk is the colour of cream; the cream is the consistency of ice-cream."
Excerpt from Yalda Davis blog:
"The following morning I set off for Punchard's Farm, otherwise known in our family as the Jersey cows (for obvious reasons) a favourite place of mine ever since I can remember. I was hoping to see some babies of one sort or another, it being the right time of year, and I wasn't disappointed - a foal about 6 weeks old, and 6 fluffy kittens about 3 weeks old in the barn, in the cosiest little den I've ever seen, made of straw bales."
"Really fresh milk from own herd of jersey cows. Very thick cream...Available self-service 24 hours a day. Plenty of animals to entertain the children."
Articles about benefits of untreated milk
Press Releases
punchardsfarm.co.uk
