Supplying direct to the consumer is the latest focus for William Chestnutt, a fourth-generation dairy farmer who works on his family farm near Portrush.
The farm has 260 dairy cows and last year added a new part to the business, The Milk Hut, which a vending machine for fresh milk and milkshakeswhich are sold directly to the public in reusable glass bottles.
It's fair to say William has a busy day...
READ MORE: {}
4.30am – My alarm goes off and I have a quick coffee and head to the cow shed
5.00am – Dad and I get the milking started he’ll go and fetch the cows and clean their beds while I get on with milking
6.00am – During milking we fill the pasteuriser with milk fresh from the cows and start the process of pasteurisation
7.00am- Wash down the parlour. Open up the Milk Hut vending machine ready for those early bird customers to get their milk from 7.30am. We are in the process of increasing the size of its milk pasteuriser from 150 litres to 500 litres to cope with predicted customer demand during the summer months
7.30am – Breakfast with my son Edward and my wife Alison. We have another baby due in July so it’s good to get some quality family in before the pressures of a new baby begin. I usually make poached eggs on toast for myself and Alison and Weetabix and banana for Edward with fresh milk of course!
Most Read
8.30am - Back out to feed the cows
10.30am– Head out round to check the calves and in calf heifers that are grazing in the fields further away from the yard
12.30pm – Lunchtime. One of the perks of working so close to home is getting into the house for lunch
1.30pm – Afternoons can consist of any number of jobs just depending on the time of year and what needs done. Could be fencing, spreading slurry, machinery maintenance. The weather has been so unpredictable this year so never a truer saying is making hay when the sun shines! Also, there are often calls from the Milk Hut which need dealt with, restocking of machines and refilling the milk along with washing up the tanks.
4.00pm – Stop for a quick cup of tea before milking
4.30pm– Get cows back into the milking parlour for the second milking of the day
6.00pm – Dinner time. I’m very lucky that that Alison is a great cook with loads of experience and ideas – anyone would know to look at me that I’m well fed!
Don’t miss
7.00pm – Evenings can consist of anything from catching up on some paperwork to my favourite hobby of going out to Ballycastle on my mountain bike
7.30pm- Close up the Milk Hut for the day and manage our social media content. This is where a lot of customers find out about it.
It’s World Milk Day on Tuesday 1 June so we are gearing up our marketing to help showcase the Milk Hut, launch our new Honeycomb and Biscoff flavoured milkshake flavours and of course highlight the taste and health benefits of farm fresh milk.
9pm Head out and check the cows and push up their feed to keep them going until morning
9:30pm- Finally get ready for bed. Farming is not a job but it’s a way of life. thankfully we are in a beautiful part of the world and we love what we do so it makes the early starts and long days’ worth it!
10pm - Bed