YES!

We test our cows because we want to be certain that we are producing milk that is safe for consumption.

Did you know that the frequency of Bovine Leukemia Virus (BLV) in commercial dairy herds is estimated to be over 80%? It was once thought that BLV did not affect humans. However, many studies now show that BLV is present in humans -- particularly in breast tissue.

Johnes, a chronic wasting digestive disease in cattle, has now been associated with human diseases like Crohn’s.

We believe RAW milk is the best milk there is, however, there is enough evidence to correlate bovine diseases to human conditions that we have made it our mission to keep all known cattle diseases out of our herd.

Before an animal is allowed into our herd, they are tested for BLV, BVD, Johnes, Neospora, and Anaplasmosis. Cattle in Tennessee are free of Tuberculosis and Brucellosis per the USDA so we do not explicitly test for those simply because it isn't necessary.  Because we have a closed herd (meaning we no longer bring in animals from other farms), the risk of our cattle contracting diseases that could affect human health is slim to none.

If you currently purchase RAW milk from another farm, we challenge you to ask if they test their herd. You may be surprised at the answer 😬

We are not anti-vax, but we are cautious vaxers. 

We avoid things like the annual pinkeye vaccine our vet would like to administer.  However, there is wisdom in administering vaccines against soil-borne pathogens that are difficult to mitigate -- Tetanus and Blackleg, for example.

There are dozens of vaccines available for cattle including vaccines for some of the diseases we test for (BLV, and BVD for example).  We would rather use management practices to prevent those diseases and avoid administering the vaccines to our herd.

Our cattle receive zero medications as a general rule.

They will be dewormed if necessary based on fecal exams, however our rotational grazing program largely makes that unnecessary. 

There are extreme circumstances when we will treat a single animal with antibiotics when needed to save their life or if there are no other options to clear an infection. 

This is a very rare occasion on our farm, and if it happens we don’t take any chances with introducing antibiotics or other drugs into our customers’ diets. Mandatory withdrawal periods for food animals are met and exceeded on our farm.

We can’t speak as medical professionals, however, even RAW milk contains lactose.

That being said, oftentimes people think that they are lactose intolerant but it’s actually an intolerance to the A1 protein.  Even more common are reactions to pasteurization, homogenization, feed additives, etc.  For example, milk produced from cows and eggs produced from chickens fed a heavy soy diet affects a member of our household negatively.

It's been our experience that many people who can't drink store-bought milk have no problems drinking RAW milk. The only way to know for sure is to give the milk a try.

A1 vs A2 has to do with the kind of protein in the milk.

Many studies show milk from cattle raised on pasture has much higher levels of omega-3 fatty acids, which are heart-healthy fats.

Cattle can eat grain.  We've watched them selectively eat the seed heads off of grass by their own choice.  These seed heads are nothing more than grain still on the plant.  However, feeding grain excessively upsets the natural balance of Omega-3 to Omega-6 fatty acids in the milk because cattle were only made to digest small amounts of grain at a time. Omega-6 fatty acids are inflammatory, and Omega-3 fatty acids are anti-inflammatory so obviously, we want more Omega-3's!

 Because we feed very little grain, our cattle grow slower and produce less milk than typical grain-fed cows, but we believe the trade-off in quality is worth it!

It requires large amounts of energy for dairy cattle to produce milk.  We want to support their nutritional needs even if it means adding a bit of grain.

When our cows are lactating they receive a small amount of grain (6 cups which translates to approximately 2 lbs) with their alfalfa, sunflower seeds, molasses, and non-GMO cattle pellets at milking time, along with their free-choice organic kelp and minerals. For the most part, we use the grain to ensure they don’t lose too much weight while milking.

Our cattle can consume between 15-25 pounds of hay and/or grass per day, so this tiny amount of grain is more of a treat. 

To put this into perspective, commercial dairy cows are fed roughly 30 lbs of grain every day, including soy and other questionable feedstuffs.  There is no soy in our animal feed due to a soy allergy in our family.

Dry or pregnant cows do not receive grain under most circumstances.  However, in the dead of winter when the temperatures are unusual for Tennessee (-10° last January!), we will often feed a bit of grain because the digestion of grains creates heat and helps keep our cows warm.  This is obviously rare and only done in cases of extreme weather.

All our cows eat grass year-round with supplemental hay in the wintertime or heat of summer as needed. Since hay is dried grass, we refer to our cattle as “mostly grass-fed”.