Early in the morning, when most children except farm children are still in bed, Clara the Kerrygold cow and her friends are waking up. They live a happy, unhurried life on a farm in a country called Ireland. Here, the grass is so green that people say it twinkles like an emerald, and there seems to be more grass than there is anything else.
If you stand in the middle of Clara’s farm, as Clara herself often does, you feel like you are in the middle of a giant green quilt. At the edges of the quilt are the blue of the sky and the far-off sea. There’s a spot of speckledy red off in the distance, which is the house where the farmer lives, and a broad, curving yellow line, which is the little road the tractor goes up and down. There’s also a pale grey patch, which is the milking shed with its wavy silver roof.
Every day, Clara wakes up early and goes to the milking shed with the rest of the herd. “Good morning, ladies,” says the farmer, getting everything ready for them. The milk that Clara and her friends make is rich, creamy and precious, so the farmer collects it carefully. It’s sent to the dairy to make Kerrygold butter, which gets its yellow colour and soft texture from the goodness of the grass the cows eat. The farmer and his family like the butter – Clara has seen them in the garden of the little farmhouse on sunny afternoons, spreading Kerrygold on their soda bread and scones and pouring tea out of a giant steaming pot. It looks very nice, but she prefers grass herself.
After milking, Clara and her friends head for the meadows. The farmer, his father, his wife and their twin daughters take good care of these green pastures, making sure there’s enough grass for all the cows to eat. The farmer’s family have been looking after cows here since before anyone can remember, and know just what to do if a cow catches a cold or needs help when a new calf arrives.
It’s summer, so the sun is warm on Clara’s back as she stands in the meadow. At this time of year she lives outside all the time. Sometimes she concentrates on burping and chewing (cows are very good at burping and chewing), sometimes she listens to the birds or admires the flowers in the meadow, and sometimes she plays with the other cows. It’s not a very big herd, so she knows everyone, but just like children in the playground, each cow has her own special friends.
Even in summer it rains a lot, which helps the grass to grow, but it’s still warm enough to be outside. In spring and autumn Clara goes to bed inside, choosing her spot in the roomy shed, and when it’s really cold she takes shelter indoors. She doesn’t miss the meadow because the farmer brings grass into the shed, dried into hay or made into a special winter food called silage. Daisy, who reads a lot, says that some cows in other countries have to stay inside all the time. They eat grain, which is not as tasty as grass. Clara feels lucky.
After the evening milking, the farmer makes sure all the cows are safe and happy, then pulls off his boots at the door of the farmhouse and goes inside for dinner. Clara’s long, contented day of bird-listening, grass-chewing, flower-admiring and cow-playing is over. She finds a quiet place in the grass, lowers her long eyelashes and drifts off to sleep on the big green quilt.
A Kerrygold tale: pure and simple
The Kerrygold story is a simple one. “We work with small co-operative farms where small herds are free to graze on lush Irish meadows. It means Kerrygold cows are healthy and happy, free to roam outside. It’s these cows, and countless generations of dairy knowhow, that makes our butter taste so good. We always know where all of our milk comes from, which is why we promise to only produce the most delicious, golden dairy, pure and simple.”
