your opinion wanted

[Guest guest]

I found a new source of local unpasturized milk. They are a family

farm with 100-150 cows. They sell their milk to create pasturized

milk. They are not organic and do supplement their milking cows

with grain. This is basically what they told me...

" The milking cows are kept in the barn but go out to graze daily.

They are supplemented with Brewers Grain and regular store grain

daily. The milk goes directly to the milk tank. Farm customers get

their milk directly from the tank (with their help). The family also

drinks the milk from the tank and do not buy store bought milk.

They have lived off their own cows milk for over 15 years. "

Now, I know this is not the most optimal source however would this

be a better choice for our family instead of pasturized and

homogonized store milk?

Would you drink milk from a farm like this?

I look forward to hearing your opinions.

Thanks,

Candace

[Guest guest]

Good Enough. The fact that they've been drinking it themselves for 15 + years is a very good sign. You might ask them what their Annual Vet Bill usually runs..... that always tells the tale.

100% Grassfeeding is an Ideal, but even Weston A. Price himself recommended Grain Ammendments if the Grass was not enough. He was always testing for Quality, no matter how it was achieved. His writings while trying to find a Healing Butter illustrate this quite clearly.

Some Grain-Feeding (not SOY!) is perfectly acceptable if the Grains are not Feed Pellets. Ideally the Milk would be tested to be sure the Milk was of the highest quality using whatever combination. But..... you can tell by how your milk is holding up in your Frig.

You'd be shocked how many "Free-Range Eggs" are fed Garbage from the local feedstore along with minimal Grass and Insects, so ask discreet questions before you pay a Premium Price. Those yolks better be close to Red if you're paying $2 and up per dozen.

--Terry

your opinion wanted

I found a new source of local unpasturized milk. They are a family farm with 100-150 cows. They sell their milk to create pasturized milk. They are not organic and do supplement their milking cows with grain. This is basically what they told me..."The milking cows are kept in the barn but go out to graze daily. They are supplemented with Brewers Grain and regular store grain daily. The milk goes directly to the milk tank. Farm customers get their milk directly from the tank (with their help). The family also drinks the milk from the tank and do not buy store bought milk. They have lived off their own cows milk for over 15 years."Now, I know this is not the most optimal source however would this be a better choice for our family instead of pasturized and homogonized store milk? Would you drink milk from a farm like this? I look forward to hearing your opinions.Thanks,Candace

[Guest guest]

Gee Candace,

That's hard to say. 100 cows is a lot of cows, and far more than

purists would recommend. On the other hand, the founder of this

board, Janet Bruner, has that many cows, and I can tell from her

straight-forward posts that she cares about quality, plus there are

many happy customers on this board that vouch for her cows'

products...

Are they standing in poop? what does your nose tell you? If you

were a cow, would you like living/eating/birthing there? Are their

teats shaved and clean? Do they have that healthy glow? Did you

look in at the milking area? What's your 'gut reaction' to the

health of the cows and the intent of their caretakers? That 'grain'

they feed - is it of good quality? Or is it 'Purina' variety?

Get a copy of Dr. Ron's " The Untold Story of Milk " . (There's a

summary right here in the 'Files' section - or is it

the 'Database'?) This book gives you clear guidelines for judging

your source. It's a great reference book. It will answer your

questions, and then some.

On a more forgiving note, I hear tell that as long as the cow is

healthy, and has access to grass, even with flies in the milk bucket

you'll be better off than with commercial milk.

But don't mess around - know your source! If you have any doubts,

keep looking.

I'm no expert, just repeating what I've read,

-Blair

> I found a new source of local unpasturized milk. They are a

family

> farm with 100-150 cows. They sell their milk to create pasturized

> milk. They are not organic and do supplement their milking cows

> with grain. > Would you drink milk from a farm like this?

>

> I look forward to hearing your opinions.

> Thanks,

> Candace

[Guest guest]

You're right Sara, we don't milk that many cows. We're usually between 60-80, depending on the time of year. Right now I believe we're right around 72 or so.

Janet

Who doesn't know which way is up anymore

Re: Re: your opinion wanted

Let me jump in here too! My two cents too...

Blair is exactly right, Candace! She addressed all I would ask and there are just a few remaining things I would check on.

What does the farmer mean by "not organic" ? Does the farmer feed any soy at all to the cows? Do they get rBGH hormone shots?

I agree with Blair, if you intend to drink milk coming from those cows, you are certainly entitled to a walk around at that farm to see how the cows live, what they eat, how they look. Go with your gut!

(And do you have any other options in the area?)

I don't think Janet has that many cows, I think she has about 60 ? Not sure- she'll update us, I'm sure! ;-)

Sara