Skip links

Our 10 Star Certified Values

Southern Pastures set out to produce the healthiest dairy products with a provenance story based on ethical principles and line of sight back to a select few farms.

Overlaid with nature and working closely with our own farmers along with best farm practices, Southern Pastures has created a unique independently audited set of ten attributes.  Using our fabulous sweet spot in the world we’ve taken a leaf out of nature’s book … and used the delightful fact that our cows roam at night amongst the twinkling company of the stars in our unpolluted skies.  We proudly wear these stars on our certification badge.

1. Grass-Fed

Fresh is undeniably best, which is why our cows feast on a salad of nature’s greens, open air in their pastures every day, all year round. Above 99% fresh grass fed*.

2. GMO-Free

Zip, Nada, Zero … No GMO seeds or crops.

3. Free-range 365 Days

Fresh is undeniably best, which is why our cows feast on a salad of nature’s greens, open air in their pastures every day, all year round. Above 99% fresh grass fed*.

4. Exceptional Animal Welfare

Our farmers take extra pride in going beyond the strict New Zealand codes of animal welfare.

Environmental Sustainability at Southern Pastures

5. Environmental Sustainability

We run our farms to a suite of scientifically proven environmental gold standards.

6. Antibiotic Stewardship

Our cows remain happy and healthy due to free-ranging, but if a cow does fall ill they are separated from the milking herd and nursed back to health before being reintroduced, therefore saving a life, limiting antibiotics and keeping the food chain free of antibiotics.

7. Human Welfare

We’re a happy bunch and there’s reason for it.

Soil and worms on a Southern Pastures farm

8. Climate Change Mitigation

Soil is the often overlooked and underestimated buried treasure of farming. The soul of the earth and quite likely the answer to climate change for the planet

Southern Pastures calves

9. No rBST or Growth Hormones

We think our cows are perfect just the way they are, so they receive no supplementary growth hormones.

Grass on a Southern Pastures dairy farm

10. No Palm or Animal Feeds

We won’t be party to rain forest destruction changing the breath of the planet and harming wildlife. Cows are herbivores so no tallow or other animal by-products in the food chain either.

Our Certification Process

If you’d like to read more about the 10 Star certification process and the world-leading standards we have in place, you’ll find all the details on our certification page.