Customers and community help farm in financial ruin

Customers and community help farm in financial ruin

It's been dubbed "The Holy Cow" and devoted customers travel kilometres to fill their glass milk bottles at MacNeille's farm near Dunedin.

It's a dairy cow's haven and here the milk is raw, unpasteurised and straight from cow to customer.

It's as far from factory farming as you can get. Each cow is named and has its own named stall.

But one non-milking cow tested positive to tuberculosis and Ministry of Primary Industries has ordered the milk to be dumped as it can't be consumed.

Merrell MacNeille says the other cows have tested negative but it doesn't seem to matter to the authorities.

The future of the herd and family's financial future were in doubt until their customers and community stepped up.

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