Three Generations of Milk, Winter Farm Routines, Organic vs. Non-GMO

We are now firmly settled into the winter chore routines, which are definitely less strenuous than the growing season when all the livestock are out on the pastures, with most needing to be rotated to fresh grass every day of the week.

 

But there is still a lot to do in our "offseason", beginning with preparations for milking at 6 AM, setting up the milk parlor, bringing the cows in four at a time, then cleaning up the barn and milking equipment when finished. We also have to clean out the cow shed and spread fresh straw, bring hay out to for them, feed the beef and heifer herds, feed the chickens and collect eggs (twice a day), feed and water the pigs, and spread bedding and wood chips where needed.  And pack eggs, lots of eggs. In addition we do lots of cleaning, organizing, and equipment maintenance in the winter once daily chores are done.

 

Pictured above are three generations of our Guernsey cows in the milk parlor, with Grandma Eeyore on the far end, her daughter Roo in the middle, and Roo's daughter Winnie closest to the camera.  We feed them a scoop of organic (soy free) grain mixed in with vitamins, minerals and a few alfalfa pellets while they are milking. We can also mix some tinctures or aloe pellets into their bowl if they are in need of any special supplements.  When we renovated our 120-year old barn in 2015 we built this heated milk parlor, which is much appreciated on these very cold January days.

 

Winter egg production is still strong but we did end up running out of eggs a few afternoons last week, so we are planning to continue bringing in extra eggs from Gwenyn Hill Farm, located near our Wisconsin farm in Waukesha. They produce organic, No Corn/No Soy eggs just like we do so they are a good fit for our customers when we run low. 

 

Our raw milk supply continues to be strong but we are selling out online more often than we were a few weeks ago. We do plan to wean a couple of older heifer calves soon and are expecting some new calves to be born in the coming week, so hopefully production will increase a bit in the near future. 

 

Next week we have our second-to-last batch of pigs heading for the processor. If you are interested in ordering a whole hog to get the best price on our pastured pork, this is the time. A typical whole hog order will yield about 140-150 lbs. of meat for your freezer. Click here for more information.

 

Our farm store is well-stocked with our grass-fed beef, pork, and chicken so it's never been easier to eat local and healthy. Fresh organic produce in the store this weekend includes avocados, pears, grapefruit, oranges, bell peppers (red, yellow, orange), mini sweet peppers, carrots, green and red grapes, celery, cabbage, cauliflower, kiwi, ginger, dates, celery, Michigan apples, onions, Wisconsin potatoes, local microgreens and Crystal Lake Mushrooms.

 

And we have a couple of new products in the store…from Good Time Health we are carrying their Hibiscus and Mushroom Earth Tea, as well as their Earth Mushroom Coffee, both light and dark varieties.  We received a bag of their mushroom-enhanced Earth Coffee as a Christmas gift and liked it so well we had to get it in the store. 

 

From Castor River Farm (regeneratively grown and packaged in Missouri) we are now carrying their White and Brown long grain rice.

 

This is another question I hear quite often, with a lot of confusion about these terms. In general, any product labeled as certified organic should not contain any artificial ingredients, pesticides, herbicides, chemicals, or be grown with synthetic fertilizers. A certified organic product would also not be made with or include any Genetically Modified Organisms - otherwise known as GMOs.  So by definition, any product that is certified organic would also be Non-GMO.  

 

However, a product labeled as Non-GMO would not necessarily be organic. I see a lot of Non-GMO labels on products in the grocery store where there is not even a GMO version of…its a voluntary label that seems to be popping up everywhere.  

 

For farmers like us that raise livestock, the most important area of relevance is in the feed we grow or purchase for our omnivores - the pigs, chickens, and turkeys that we raise.  We only feed certified organic grains, hay, and minerals to our livestock as we want to limit the amount of herbicides, pesticides and other chemicals they are exposed to, even if we do not put a certified organic label on that product. 

 

We could purchase Non-GMO feed, which in many cases is priced about half of what certified organic feed costs.  But most farmers that raise Non-GMO corn, soybeans, wheat, oats, or other grains will spray those crops with potent herbicides. In fact I have seen some studies showing that Non-GMO crops have EVEN MORE pesticide residue than conventional GMO crops that are usually doused with glyphosate (Roundup).

 

If you are trying to avoid cancer-causing chemicals and pesticides in your food, stick with the organic products and be cautious of Non-GMO claims.

 

That's it from the farm this week, stay healthy out there!

 

Cliff, Anna, and the Farm Team