The Importance of Listening..

I was scrolling through my comments for this blog for the past 2 years, then I read through some of my previous blog posts.  I started this blog with the intention of educating consumers about my love of dairy farming and the importance of agriculture and food.  As I was reading I could see my passion shine through, however I noticed a certain "defensive" tone to my writing.  Maybe it's age or maybe it's experience, but I think now I can see with greater clarity the importance of listening and that was very evident in the comments that I was reading.  Many of the comments that I read today were very angry and very inappropriate.  I stick firmly by my personal rules to not engage in conversation with those who cannot be polite and civil when expressing their opinions, but perhaps I was also guilty of jumping to some prejudgments and defending my opinion without actually listening to a differing opinion in it's entirety.  I also realize how important it is to agree to disagree.  I should make it completely known that I am not against Vegan diets, organic agriculture, or anything different than what happens on our farm.  I believe in the freedom of choice, I just hope that those choices are made with a full understanding of all of the facts. And the way we all get understanding is through listening...so maybe this blog's purpose is shift towards engaging in a productive conversation about practices on our farm and many other farms and how that impacts the diets of so many people.  The way that we can make this conversation is through active listening....so I'm listening, feel free to leave and comment and hopefully my readers will also listen too.

Increase the Dose....

I saw this quote the other day, and while it pertains to life, I found it to be particularly important for dairy farming as well: " A Physician once said the best medicine for humans is love. Someone asked him what if that doesn't work? He smiled and said....Increase the Dose!"

The same can be said about cows and calves on a dairy farm.  We have emergency veterinarian care at the dial of a phone, medicine on hand for almost any possible ailment, skilled employees to find sick cows and we feel prevention is the best cure.  Even with all of the technology and medicine, the best medicine we can give is our love for our animals.

The other day one of our employees came to the rescue of a cow having her calf.  The calf was 45 days premature.  While the calf was born early, it was alive, and that little bull calf fought with all of his might to stay alive.  We worked hard to give him the very best care that we could.  With as much love as possible, we fed him multiple small meals each day.  We gave him medicine to help his lungs develop and antibiotics to keep away any infections.  As hard as we tried, however, Mother Nature was not on our side.  This little guy was born without the ability to pass manure.  As much love as we gave him, we knew that he wasn't going to make it.  At two and a half days of age, the little bull passed away.  I can't help it, every time I lose a little calf, I cry, even if there was nothing I could do, other than increase the dose of love that they received.  With all the wonders of modern medicine and technology, we will still have sick animals and we will still lose some calves, but at the end of the day I know that I gave the best medicine first...love, and if that didn't work, well I always increase my dose.

Milk Testing...If it's not perfect, we pitch it!

What's up with these things?  Little known fact....EVERY tank of milk that is shipped from US dairy farms is tested for antibiotics.  I bet you didn't know that each dairy farmer is required to keep ANY cows treated with antibiotics separate from the other cows that are not treated with antibiotics.  The milk from all treat cows is usually disposed of and does not enter the human food supply.  If it's not perfect, we pitch it, every time, everyday! So if we have a sick cow...and we treat her with antibiotics to help her heal and feel better, we first move her to a separate pen to assure that her milk will also be kept separate.  Secondly, she is marked with 2 red colored leg bands to let everyone on our dairy know that she is treated with antibiotics. 

When our cows finish their complete treatment, we then wait the recommended time, also called the withdrawal time.  This withdrawal time is determined by veterinarians.  We follow the directions for each antibiotic that we use and each of those antibiotics are prescribed to our cows.  Even though we know that we waited the required time of withdrawal we take precautions.  One of those precautions is that we collect a milk sample from each treated cow.  That individual sample is tested with an on-farm testing kit that we own.  The photo above is an example of 2 such samples.  The yellow sample is a cow that is negative for antibiotics however the purple colored sample is a positive cow.  Milk from the purple sample cow will continue to be discarded until her  sample test turns yellow in a few more days.  We take antibiotics very seriously.  They are an important tool to help us keep our cows healthy when they get sick, but we also know that it is critical that NO antibiotics enter the milk tank.  The safety of our milk is one of the most important goals on our farm.  Every employee is trained to know and understand this importance....so rest assured that every glass of milk you enjoy is safe, wholesome, and nutritious.....and also free of antibiotics!