Oaklands Farm has been part of the local community since it was purchased from the New Zealand Co in 1844.

Although John Waring Saxton found his £150 investment “steep, hillish and swampy” he and the eight generations of farmers who followed him worked hard to turn the ground into workable farm land.

The Saxtons did so well at clearing the area that not only did the farm supply the area with milk from their dairy but in 1932 some land was set aside for Nelson Aero Club. Three years later Cook Strait Airways began operating from the grass strip.

Despite giving over more land in the 1970’s to the council to allow for the Saxton Fields sports grounds, roads, car parks and house building, the farm remains in operation just as the early Saxtons had intended – serving the community.

Doing the right thing for the community has always been important for the custodians of Oaklands and so when the opportunity came about to allow natural, farm fresh milk to be sold directly from the farm, it was another chance for the Raine family to serve the public with good local produce.

Fresh, local milk for the Nelson Community!

The Saxton/Raine family has owned and worked Oaklands since 1842. We’ve been drinking fresh milk for seven generations and now we’re offering pasturised milk for sale from vending machines at the farm gate and stations around the Nelson region.

We think that our milk is pretty special. We pamper our cows and let them graze the 500 hectares of soft rolling hills.

Farm fresh milk is one of nature’s most nutritious foods. One cup of milk provides 1/3 of the recommended daily intake of calcium for children and ¼ of the daily recommended intake for adults. Milk is also naturally packed full of other essential vitamins and minerals, such as potassium, magnesium, phosphorus, selenium & zinc plus  vitamins A, B2, B3, B6, B12, D, E, K.

We have rigorous hygiene and safety procedures, with continual checks and audits to ensure our milk meets Oaklands strict quality standards.

With no unnecessary transport miles to processing factories you can be sure that when you buy Oaklands milk you’re buying local, providing almost 4 times as much economic benefit for our region. We can also tell you what paddock our cows grazed on when the milk was produced and what supplementary feed they were fed, yes Oaklands milk is fully traceable!