Farm Tours | The Red Barn

The Pasture to Plate Story

Enjoy a delightful authentic rural New Zealand experience on our fully functioning Dairy Farm in the heart of the Waikato. A 35 minute guided tour of a Waikato working dairy farm, see where the world's largest dairy exporter, Fonterra's, products begin. Savour a Morning or afternoon tea that features delicious home style baking and local produce. Also gain an understanding of the daily practices of a New Zealand farmer and the importance of farming to the New Zealand economy.

Allow: 1 hour, Min 20 pax/Max 60 pax

Enquire today to book a tour.

GROUP TOURS

BUTTER MAKING DEMONSTRATIONS

MORNING OR AFTERNOON TEA

Farm Tour Sample Menu

Country Style Lunch

On Arrival

Participate in our fun interactive 'Red Barn Butter Churning' experience.

Freshly baked breads will be served with your very own homemade seasoned butter and

Red Barn Chutneys

Mains

CLASSIC NEW ZEALAND LAMB ROAST
Herb enriched eight hour slow roasted lamb

ROAST CHICKEN THIGHS
Oven roasted chicken thighs with sundried tomato crème, baby spinach and toasted almonds

SEASONAL ROAST VEGETABLES
Oven roasted seasonal vegetables with garlic and thyme butter

ROAST PUMPKIN AND QUINOA SALAD
Fennel roasted pumpkin and grilled cauliflower, with baby kale leaves, crumbled feta and toasted quinoa, drizzled with a pesto vinaigrette

FRESHLY PICKED GARDEN SALAD
Locally grown, handpicked baby leaves, with shaved beets, cherry tomatoes, carrot ribbons and radish sprouts, drizzled with an aged balsamic vinaigrette

Dessert - The Red Barn Gelato Bar

Enjoy a selection of locally made Gelato showcasing Waikato's award winning Kowhai Creamery served with a selection of teas and percolated coffee

(The above menu is a sample as seasonal variations may apply)

Farm Facts

The Red Barn Farm Tour takes place on 172 hectares / 500 acres (average size NZ farm is 144 hectares). That's approximately 3 cows on average milked per hectare. We milk 550 A2 cows in total, who are mainly grass fed, and supplemented with Maize Silage. We supply to Synlait, who process our A2 milk for export. Our farmers have an early start to the day as milking starts at 4am, and again in the afternoon, everyday.

Dairy Facts

NZ Dairy Industry produced 20.7 billion litres of milk last year
Earning 18 billion dollars in revenue each year
1.8 Billion Kgs of milk solids
NZ Produces 3% of all world milk
NZ is the largest dairy exporter of Dairy Products – but is only the 9th largest milk producer world wide
Just over 6.5 million cows are being milked in NZ – this number is increasing by 1.9% per year
The Average herd size in NZ is 420 Cows
28% of NZ farmer have over 500 cows in their herd
42% of dairy exports comes from whole milk powder – 16% is butter – 12% Cheese – 14% Skim Milk Powder – 12% Casein - 4% other
74% of Dairy Herds are in the North Island
34% of these are in the Waikato Region
1.8 Million hectares of land is used for NZ Dairy – this number is increasing as the future of Dairy looks good
Approx - 41,000 people employed by the dairy industry – 28,000 on Farm and 13,000 processing and wholesaling
Sheep – NZ has around 29 million sheep
Cattle - 10 million cattle in total – 6.5 million for dairy
Deer - Approx - 1million deer

The Red Barn was originally built in the Waikato around the turn of the century as a livery stable where stagecoaches could change horses for the journeys.