Happy Cow Creamery

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Happy Cow Creamery is a family-owned dairy farm in Pelzer, South Carolina. It bottles and sells its own milk on the farm from a grass-fed Holstein herd. The milk—whole, buttermilk and chocolate milk—is sold at the on-site store and in nearby grocery and convenience stores across Upstate South Carolina. The milk is not homogenized and is pasteurized at a low temperature, and it is inspected by the state.

Owner Tom Trantham created a pasture system called 12 Aprils, a rotating grazing method inspired by Irish paddock systems. He was awarded the first Patrick Madden Award for Sustainable Agriculture in 2002 by the USDA CSREES. With a USDA grant through Clemson University, Trantham worked with researchers to study year-round dairy grazing.

The herd is about 80 milking cows and moves through 29 paddocks of 2.5 to 3.5 acres, grazing a different paddock each day and starting the cycle again after the first paddock regrows. The cows also receive high-energy pellets and hay at milking time. The farm uses organic fertilizer on the pastures and does not use injected rBGH; however, it has not pursued organic certification.

Before developing 12 Aprils, Trantham ran a traditional high-volume dairy that used chemical fertilizers and heavy grain feeding and was losing money. One day, when the herd wandered into a weed field, milk production increased. The cows ate the top part of the lush weed pasture, which contained most of the nutrients, and this observation helped inspire the grass-feeding system.

Happy Cow Creamery milk is pasteurized at low temperature, not sold as raw milk, though raw milk sales are legal in South Carolina from farms or small stores. Grass-fed dairy often has more CLA, a heart-healthy fat. A study by Utah State University found Happy Cow milk has higher CLA than typical store milk.

The store sells its milk along with butter, cheeses, pasture eggs, natural meats and ice cream. It also offers locally made jellies, breads, coffee and other items, plus produce when in season. The store is a Certified Roadside Market by the state, and the farm also provides frozen locally grown meats from small farms.