Holy Cow! Dairy Goddess “Gots Milk” !

Hello Everyone! I have missed you! Yep, it’s true. Blogging is my joy. It would be something that I would love to do at least once a week.

I am so sad that  haven’t had much time to keep up on it, but I have been productive.

I am happy to announce our newest product (drumroll please……)

CREAM TOP! What’s that you ask? It is a Non-Homogenized/Lightly Pasteurized

Whole Milk! We make it Chocolate and Natural.  It’s the way milk should be! Whole , Fresh, Delicious, and Safe.

Did you know that the only difference between Non-Fat milk and Whole is 31/2% fat. Not the bad fat…but the good stuff. Brain food. This is going back to the way we should be eating. For our health, not for what “fads” are saying.

For young people as well as mature folks, dairy is  great for your body. bones, brain, hair, nails…  Beauty inside and out!

We are introducing it at farmers markets…come by for a taste! You won’t believe how good it is!

Take a look at my new labels! I think they are beautiful. Don’t forget to look for and ask for “Dairy Goddess Cream Top Milk”

DG_Cream-top_64ozLabel_Frnt_HRDG_Cream-top_32ozLabel_FRNT_HR

Holy Cow! Checking For Food Safety Works

It’s been a week now since the discovery of the cow with BSE (Mad Cow). I went of to my farmers market last week prepared for questions and concerns. To my surprise, only two people spoke of it and they were from the Valley and asked if many had asked about the finding.

I look at this as food safety testing is working. I am comforted that they found it. I just want to reiterate a few points as I am still  seeing some negative articles out there. I think most of those negatives are written by those with another agenda.

I consider us so very blessed to have safe, affordable food.

The cow was found in a rendering facility in central California. The cow tested positive at a transfer facility in Hanford, 15 miles west of Visalia in Kings County, operated by Baker Commodities.

National Milk Producers Federation offered the following points on the issue:

• Milk and dairy products do not contain or transmit BSE, and animals do not transmit the disease through cattle-to-human contact. The infectious prions that transmit BSE are found in neurological tissues, such as brains and spinal cords.
• The United States put regulations in place in 1997 to prohibit ruminant protein from being used in animal feed. This applies to all cattle, dairy and beef alike.
• Non-ambulatory animals ― those that cannot walk ― are not allowed to be processed at facilities where meat animals are handled. This regulation helps ensure that animals that are unwell are not entered into the food supply.

However, the current case in California may not fit the typical mold.

“Our laboratory confirmed the findings and also indicated it was an atypical form of BSE, which is a rare form of the disease,” said USDA chief veterinarian John Clifford on Tuesday. “It is not likely to be attributable to infected feed, which is the method in which normally BSE is spread from cow to cow,” he said.

“This particular animal did not enter the food supply at any time,” Clifford added.

For more background on BSE and the dairy sector, visit the NMPF website.

The USDA also has a frequently asked questions section on BSE. Click here.

Also Science News has a great article too

Holy Cow, Finally! Stand Up And Fight For Agriculture

I came across this video this morning and I say AMEN! Finally…it’s said! A voice for us.

I am continually saddened by people who disparage or dismiss the importance of Agriculture. I am saddened by those who are so easily swayed by radical agenda. What saddens me most is that because there are so many removed from Agriculture they just believe the misinformation they are throwing out there.  Earlier this year, an article featured on Yahoo! Education listed three agriculture-degrees in a list naming the top five worthless degrees. Just imagine where we would be without these degrees. These students make it pretty clear!

Farmers Fight is a student-led initiative to reconnect American society to the world of agriculture. Beginning with university students, Farmers Fight encourages consumers to ask where their food comes from, and give students, faculty, public officials, and farmers and ranchers an opportunity to become “agvocates” for the agriculture community. This is a must see!  http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=yFoGib8AfZo

Let’s make this viral….Let’s Stand Up and Fight

Thank you for making this video! Thank you!

Kids Dairy Chores = Federal Crime! Yeah Ridiculous!

Hello everyone. Happy spring! Can you believe it is here already. Again I apologize for my long pause in posting. The Fresno Food Expo was a great event and has kept me busy. As well as the start up of our non-homoginized Chocolate Milk…but more of that to come.

In the mean time I have been hearing word of this bill. (Below is an excerpt and link to full article).

It basically states that your kids can not work on your farm! Granted they say they can work on the ” family ” farm.

As with most frivolous bills like this there are loop holes that could get you in trouble ( ie What if it is a family corporation? )

How ridiculous is this? Does the government really want to run all aspects of all our lives? This could be the tip of the iceburg. What is next? Besides… the skills taught on our farms to our children last a lifetime. Imagine the work ethics that could be lost. Lord knows that so many of our young do not develop this important trait. Do they want farm kids sitting around on their computers like so many other kids that do not have the opportunity to have a job on a farm?

Lets not forget the wonderful memories that could be stolen from children. Some of my happiest memories were of working outside with my family. One very dear memory is when I was about 4 years old and my Dad would put me in the milk tank to help him clean it. I would slip and slide and he would just praise me and my small hands! I felt like I worked with steel wool as soon as I walked!

I think that our government has bigger problems to deal with. They need to fix themselves before they try to fix what isn’t broken!

Dairy Herd Network

If the federal government, in this case the Department of Labor, can regulate the relationship between parents and their own children working on their own farms, what is off-limits for the federal government to be involved in?’ he asked.

Officials from the Department of Agriculture point out that the regulations will not apply to children who work for their parents. Yet, questions remain as to whom the children work for in the case of farm corporations and farm partnerships, and the Department of Labor announced last month that it would re-visit the “parental exemption” clause in those cases.

Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack has acknowledged that farm work is an American tradition “and it teaches kids lessons that last a lifetime.

Dairy Herd Network Article

Dairy Goddess Cheese Goals For Year Two!

Hello everyone! Sorry I haven’t blogged in a bit but it has been the best kind of hectic. 

As I venture on into my second year running Dairy Goddess Farmstead Cheese I had set a business goal this year to get into more stores.

That is not an easy feat… but neither was getting into Farmers Markets as I did last year! I love my Farmer’s Markets but I would like to be more available to my customers.

I also have been wanting to expand my product line. I am proud to say that we have purchased a small bottler and plan on having my chocolate milk out very soon.

Also I have been peddling my Milk Bath a luxurious soak in Whole milk, salts and scents. It is amazing for your skin because of milk’s lactic acid. I received my first order for this wonderful product and it is at Old California Lavender in Temecula , California

We are bringing fresh orders of cheese to Whole Foods Fresno , Whole Foods San Ramon, Whole Foods Walnut Creek and coming soon Whole Foods Lafayette

Also happy to announce that we are in New Frontiers, SLO . Also Mesa Produce in Santa Barbara. Let us not forget our 1st store, The Hanford Portuguese Bakery

I am very excited for March 8 2012, The Fresno Food Expo.  This is our first Expo promoting Dairy Goddess Farmstead Cheese I am excited to speak with buyers and distributors and have them sample our cheese. I am also looking forward to the public tasting and we will be able to sell our cheese there too.

I am looking forward of what is to come. I also know that I could not have gotten this far without the love and support of my family, friends, customers and most of all God. Thank you all from the bottom of my heart. I will keep you posted

You, the Goddess, deserves this bath!

SOS! Dairies To Suffer Again: More Low Milk Prices & High Feed Costs. HELP! Somebody?

I received this comment on my blog. I was so moved.

I, too feel that there is no one to help, there is nobody in our court. Our industry is ran like the rest of the country. Big money, and personal interest. Each man for themselves. We try to have voices, but those are only heard when you have lots money and you are able to make yourself heard. I know what it is  to feel like no one is listening. My blog is my little tiny voice. It is all I got!

I appreciate that she shared this story with me. I wanted to share it with you.

Hi dairygoddess…I have a question. The dairies in our area are closing. Our friends are generational dairymen, they have lost their home and had a 3k head of cow dairy, now down to 80 cows. They have 34 people who are invested and stand to lose everything. the feed company has raised feed so high they cannot keep up. NOw they are in negotiations and the feed company are holding them over a barrel. Can nothing be done, are there no gov. bale out of a dairy? they sell their milk to Alta Dena who has been supportive but cannot feed the cows. What can we do, to get oats in those cows to produce? Help if you can. (I kept her name private)

This is sadly a story that is told by many dairy farms. We are too, struggling. These next 90 days are reported to be another terrible period for dairy farms. Not only dairies suffer but the companies that service them. There is NO bail out for us, none at all. We dairy men are controlled by people looking out for themselves.
Processors LOVE, LOVE, LOVE cheap milk. They pit dairy farmer against each other so that we can not create tools to help ourselves. They just know that at some point we will end up making too much milk again and drown ourselves and our industry.

California alone is at a terrible injustice. We receive less than anyone else in the nation. Why? I have asked myself this so many times. We ask for hearings through the California Department of Agriculture, yet they are denied. Don’t they see our dairy farms struggling? Yet the processors complain that they will lose. Processors have a make allowance, an allowance that we pay to help them make a profit.

What about us? We just want to receive enough to just feed our cows. Is that asking too much? Do we not deserve enough to make a profit too? We work and have the risk. We do not have any control of the price we are going to receive. We watch our milk get hauled off (we, the dairy farmer pays for that too). Imagine, we pay for the haul to the processor while they have all of the power to raise/lower prices. Yet, we do not see huge drops in the store for dairy products…hmmm interesting isn’t? The minute the milk price goes up for us you see that in the store real quick.

We do not even know how much we are going to get for that milk that we worked so hard to make until a month later.

They have the power to NOT process if they have too much. Of course they have contracts to take all of our milk. Look, though what happens when there is too much…price drops and we are in the RED yet again. We can not just close our doors when we are not making enough money. We have an obligation to our animals. They must be cared for and fed. They must be milked.

We all must work together. Contact you local officials. Scream and shout and start asking the questions.
Get involved in the co-op and industry groups. WE and us alone have to start speaking for ourselves and working for ourselves and NOT let those with their own interests at heart win.

You asked about bail outs…I don’t think any of us want anything for free. I know, I just want a level playing field. Sadly if we do not get this help the American people can rely on non-local and imported milk because of possible milk shortages if too many dairies can not survive. At best the low prices consumers pay for dairy products will be gone for ever. For many our LUCK would have given out.

Praying for us all. The pressure is enormous. We can go without, sacrifice, but our cows MUST be fed and taken care of. When we lose that availability it is heartbreaking.

God help us all!

Dairy, Milk and Cows: Myths and Facts

Hello everyone! I thought that I would post a Myth vs Fact about milk and dairy farms. Primarily myths regarding Progressive dairy farms (aka Conventional)

Especially as there is a shortage of “Organic” milk availability.  I have stated before and will again that I support my fellow organic dairy farmers. They do a terrific job with the method of farming that they chose. I just want it to be understood among all of the media mumbo jumbo regarding progressive farming.

As a progressive farmer I choose this method of farming primarily because as an organic dairy I am unable to use antibiotics to treat my seriously ill animals. These antibiotics are the same medicines that I took when I had a breast infection while I was best feeding. Or the same medicine I gave my children when they had infections that became serious. Morally, I have an issue with not being able to treat my cows as I would myself or my children and risk the loss of an animal when there are methods in which to save them.

“MILK IS MILK”

Myth: All milk contains antibiotics, except organic.

Fact: All milk is carefully tested for antibiotics. Any milk that tests positive is disposed of immediately, and does not enter into the food supply.

• Sometimes it’s necessary for farmers to treat cows with antibiotics when they are ill, just as humans sometimes need medication when they are sick.
• All milk is strictly tested for antibiotics on the farm and processing plant. Any milk that tests positive is disposed of immediately and does not get into the food supply.
• The U.S. dairy industry conducts more than 3.3 million tests each year on all milk entering dairy plants to ensure that antibiotics are kept out of the milk supply. According to the most recent U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) data, less than one tanker in 3,000 tests positive for any animal drug residues, including antibiotics. In those rare cases, any milk that tests positive is disposed of immediately and does not get into the food supply.
• The milk testing system provides dairy farmers strong incentives to keep their milk free of antibiotics. Any milk that tests positive for antibiotics is immediately dumped. In such cases, the farmer responsible for the milk is required to pay for the full tanker of milk.
• Milk and dairy products are among the most stringently regulated foods in this country.

Myth: Today’s dairy cow is treated like nothing more than a milk machine.

Fact: Dairy cows must be healthy and well cared for in order to produce pure, wholesome milk.

• Farmers employ professional nutritionists to develop a scientifically formulated, balanced and nutritious diet for their cows. Diets include hay, grains, protein sources, and vitamins and minerals.
• Dairy cows receive regular veterinary care, including periodic check-ups, preventative vaccinations and prompt treatment of illness.
• The dairy industry has in place a number of initiatives that demonstrate commitment to animal well-being. The National Dairy FARM Program™ is a nationwide, verifiable program that addresses animal well-being. Third-party verification ensures the validity and the integrity of the program to our customers and consumers.
• Dairy farmers depend on healthy cows for their livelihood.

Myth: The reason the price of milk is going up in the grocery store is so dairy farmers can get rich.

• Dairy farmers only receive about 30 cents of every dollar.
• Market forces, like demand, impact the price of milk at the grocery store,
• Farmers are seeing a lot of cost increases in producing milk, including feed and transportation. These cost increases have left slim margins for dairy farmers in recent years.

Fact: Price increases for dairy, and all foods, beverages and other goods, are tied to dramatic increases in energy/fuel, distribution, transportation, feed, and supply costs.

Myth: Modern dairy farmers don’t practice sustainable agriculture.

Fact: Dairy farmers depend on land, air and water as part of their livelihood.

• Dairy farms must meet standards for manure storage, handling and recycling per guidelines from state and federal agencies. Once dried, manure is reused as comfortable animal bedding, composted for local garden centers and nurseries, or spread on fields to grow healthy crops, thereby reducing the need for commercial fertilizers.
• Dairy farms must follow strict state and local water quality regulations. Dairy farmers use water responsibly in their milking parlors, in water storage and in recycling.
• Constant innovation on dairy farms has led to widespread adoption of best management practices, and U.S. dairy farms are more efficient today than ever before. According to Cornell University, the dairy industry has reduced the carbon footprint of its products by 63 percent over the past 60 years, thanks to improvements in animal genetics, feeding rations, animal health programs, cow comfort and overall farm management practices. In fact, more milk is produced today with only 9 million cows than with 26 million cows in 1944.
• Dairy is one of the most regulated and inspected industries in agriculture. Dairy farms must abide by federal, state and local clean water laws that regulate manure application on cropland, and government agencies regularly inspect the water on dairy farms. Further, state agencies have rigorous processes for granting permits to new and expanding dairy farms.
• Dairy farmers live and work on their farms, so they understand the importance of protecting our natural resources, so that it will be there for future generations.

Please visit http://www.dairyfarmingtoday.org/Learn-More/MythsvsFacts/Pages/MythvsFact.aspx for even more in depth fact sheets