GREENVILLE COUNTY, S.C. — South Carolina’s once-thriving dairy farming community is shrinking fast, and for many longtime family farms, the options have become clear: adapt — or sell.
That’s the reality facing dairy farmers like Tom Trantham Jr., whose family has operated Happy Cow Creamery in Greenville County since 1978. Back then, there were around 500 family dairy farms in South Carolina. Today, there are just 18.
“There are almost 6 million people in this state and there are 18 dairy farms,” Trantham said. “You cannot feed all those people.”
Happy Cow Creamery: One of the Last Standing
The Trantham family runs one of the few generational dairy operations left in the Upstate. Nearly everything at their 130-acre farm is done in-house — from milking just under 100 cows to bottling milk and making ice cream with no artificial additives. Trantham and his family work alongside a small but dedicated crew, which he credits as essential to their survival…