How are cows that recently gave birth, also known as fresh cows, treated in comparison to other cows?
The fresh cows are milked separately from the rest of the herd in order to ensure that their colostrum is available for their calves. Colostrum, also known as first milk, is the milk produced by cows just after giving birth.
Are the cows that produce Johnston Family Farm milk branded, castrated, or dehorned?
The cows on our farm are not branded.
Only bulls can be castrated. Our bulls are sold to local farmers and people who want to raise their own beef.
While the idyllic image of large horns on a cow may seem appealing, horns are in reality a very real danger to the cows and the people who work around them. Horns can often cause serious bodily harm to the farmers and to other cattle, especially when the cows are moved into an enclosed milking parlor twice a day. In their first few weeks, the calves are "debudded", with a paste that stops the cells that produce the horn from growing. Some cattle may also be naturally polled, which is to say they lack the genes to grow horns. In fact, the polled allele in cattle genetics is actually dominant to the allele for horns!
When can a heifer have her first calf?
Heifers may reach sexual maturity as early as 9 months old. However, we typically wait until the heifer is at least 13 to 15 months old or 700-800 pounds to begin trying to breed her, so that she is fully healthy, able to maintain a pregnancy, and has the appropriate body size to deliver a calf safely. From there, the heifer has a gestation length of 285 days, or 9 months, just like a human! This means that a heifer should be able to have her first milking around 2 years old.
How long are the cows milked?
Cows begin producing milk once they give birth to a calf. Our cows are milked for about 9 or 10 months after they give birth and are then given a break for about 2 to 3 months until they give birth to their next calf. This break, also known as their “dry period” is necessary to maintain the health of the cow and her udder.
How long do the cows on these farms live?
Our cows will typically live and be productive for 8 to 10 years. This is much higher than the average lifespan of a confinement dairy cow, which typically only last from 2 to 4 milking years due to the high stress environment. A dairy cow will remain a dairy cow as long as she continues to get pregnant and stays healthy. Our cows are not culled (removed) from the herd based on milk production levels; instead we breed our cows based on health, longevity, and positive reproductive traits. When a cow reaches the end of her time as a Johnston Family Farm cow, she is sold to a local meat processor.
What happens to a calf after it is born?
When we have a calf born we make sure that the calf is healthy and drinking colostrum, or “first milk”. This milk is essential for the calf because that is where she gets most of her immunity from. Calves are born with what would be considered a weak immune system when compared to a calf of only a few days old. The colostrum is filled with IgG immunobodies. These immunobodies are the building blocks of the calf’s immune system. They are composed of immunobodies that have formed to fight off almost every illness the dam has had and she is passing them to the calf through the colostrum. We also vaccinate her for calfhood diseases. Most of these diseases are the same ones that children get: rotavirus, coronavirus, cryptosporidia, e. coli, samonilla, viral pneumonia, etc. Once we vaccinate the calf, we move it and the dam to the milking herd. The calf stays with the cow, and the herd, for two weeks. It comes to the barn when it’s milking time and waits in the holding lot until its mother is finished being milked. At the end of those two weeks, we remove the calf from its dam and put it into individual housing. We do this so that the calves can become used to human interaction. We have to work with these animals twice a day, every day, from the time they are two years old until they cease producing. It’s much easier, and safer for all involved, for the calf to be introduced to human interaction when she is small than when she weighs 1,400 pounds.
What if it's a bull calf?
Local families purchase our bull calves to raise them not for profit but as their own personal beef cattle.
Pasteurization and Non-homogenization
What is pasteurization? What temperature is Johnston Family Farm milk pasteurized to?
Pasteurization is the process of using heat to destroy pathogenic organisms in foods. Johnston Family Farm chooses to pasteurize at a lower legal temperature at just 145°F for 30 minutes. This is known as the Low Temperature Long Time (LTLT) pasteurization which can be compared to the common commercial practices of Short Time High Temperature (HTST) and Ultra High Temperature (UHT) pasteurization. In LTLT pasteurization more of the milks natural sugars and flavors are preserved which result in a better tasting product. In HTST pasteurization, the milk is heated to 180°F for 18 seconds which results in a mild cooked flavor and an aftertaste. When UHT pasteurization is used, the milk is heated to 280°F for two seconds. This UHT method alters the natural whey proteins which then in turn affects the natural creaminess. To make up for this, many milk processers will add artificial congealing agents. UHT also gives milk a “cooked” flavor. Using the LTLT method of pasteurization allows our milk to retain its fresh and wonderful flavor, sweetness, and rich creaminess we all know and love.
What is homogenization? Is Johnston Family Farm milk homogenized?
Homogenization for milk is the process of using heat and pressure to break up fat molecules (the cream) into smaller particles, causing them to remain evenly distributed throughout the milk. Johnston Family Farm milk and cream are not homogenized. We strive to provide a natural product that is minimally processed, so we do not homogenize. This allows the cream to naturally rise to the top of our milk products. Simply shake our milk before enjoying.
Is anything added to Johnston Family Farm milk?
We never add anything to our white milk. Period.
The only time we add anything to our milk is when we make Buttermilk or Chocolate milk. Our buttermilk is a cultured product. We pasteurize our milk and then add a culture that gives it that tart flavor that makes biscuits and pancakes so delicious. Our chocolate milk is always made with pure cane sugar and cocoa, never any high fructose corn syrup.
We are working on a Mocha Coffee that will also have pure cane sugar, cold brewed fair trade coffee, and cocoa. We are still tweaking the recipe and will be making batches to sample out for taste testing soon.
As always, if you have any more questions, please feel free to contact us. At Johnston Family Farm, we strive to maintain a transparent operation so as to educate the public on responsible, sustainable dairy practices.