Questions to Ask a Herd Share Farmer from a Raw Milk Skeptic
Photos from the milk and cookie bar at Rachel and Devin’s reception. I promise we cool milk more effectively than with ice tables!
If you follow any homesteader or most raw milk advocate pages on social media, they’ll tell you what you should look for in a herd share farmer. One of the main things they’ll recommend is that the cows are only fed grass. While that may be important to some, I would argue that there are bigger questions to ask. So here’s my take as someone who has sold grade A milk for pasteurization and was for a long time very anti raw milk.
The foods dairy cattle eat are important; I don’t want to downplay that. We got to the point of almost universal pasteurization because of cows moving to cramped cities and being fed old brewers mash which made the cows sick and in turn made people sick. I love to see our cows frolicking through the pastures and enjoying their lives. They are so happy on pasture and are healthy via a nutrient dense, appropriate diet.
Though feed is important as it effects the health of the cow and the taste of the milk, there’s something bigger that concerns me as someone who was extremely raw milk hesitant: test results.
A good raw milk farmer or herd share farmer gets regular testing on the cows and the milk. What exactly are farmers looking for? On the cows, they’re testing for tuberculosis, brucellosis, and Johne’s. All these diseases can be transferred to humans. In the milk they test at least for SPC (Standard Plate Count) and SCC (Somatic Cell Count). The SPC is the total number of bacteria in a specified amount of milk. Some farms go further into this by testing for E. coli, salmonella, clampylobacter, and more. As long as the SPC is low, the specific bacteria tests are not necessary. The SCC indicates the amount of white blood cells in milk. SCC is not puss. Just as human milk, raw cow’s milk is alive and contains some white blood cells. While all milk contains some SCC, you don’t want the number to be too high as it indicates a sick cow who may have mastitis and the higher count in the milk will cause the milk to sour more quickly.
Testing is wildly important to knowing the quality of raw milk you are getting through your herd share. The farmer worth his or her salt should be open with you about their testing and share the results with the herd share owners. They also should be quick to notify you if there are any high counts and not distribute milk to the owners should there ever be an issue.
Now, let’s talk about what can contribute to getting the low SPC and SCC counts you desire!
High SCP can be caused by a number of factors including, but not limited to, dirty udders, bad milking prep of the udder, inadequate cleaning of bottles and milking equipment, and poor cooling of the milk. Therefore, you want your farmer to have good sanitation of the bottles, equipment, and udder prior to milking. You want the cows to have fresh pastures and clean bedding. While pastured cows may be important to you, you want to assure that testing is also done as grass can be a breeding ground for bacteria leading to higher SPC counts and mastitis which will cause high SCC numbers as well. You also want to assure that the farmer has adequate cooling for the milk. Ideally the milk will be able to be cooled to 38 degrees Fahrenheit in 2 hours then kept there.
Clean cows and not over milking nor under milking will produce milk that is low in SCC. If a cow does end up with mastitis, the farmer will likely hold the milk out to see if it passes on it’s own. If it does not, he or she will treat the affected quarter with antibiotics. Now, this might sound scary, but don’t fear, pasteurized or raw, this milk never goes to consumers. Treated milk will always be dumped and never sold for consumption. The milk is dumped for around a week post last treatment then not added back to the bulk tank until it has tested negative for any antibiotics. While it is avoided at all costs by proper prevention of mastitis, sometimes antibiotics are the only want to get a cow well again. They are used sparingly and only when there is no other option. It is better to get a cow well and not use her milk than to continue to milk a sick cow and get poor quality milk and make the cow sicker.
Your herd share farmer should be transparent about their testing and their practices. After all, you as a herd share owner are the legal owners of the cows and the farmer is caring for your cows. You have the right to know about their health and how the farmer assures that your milk is as safe as possible. There are always risks in raw or pasteurized milk, but you should be given the information needed to assure that the risks you are taking are worth it. As a former raw milk skeptic, I need testing to know that what I am consuming is worth it. I expect no less from my soon to be herd share owners.
When we open our shares up, we will be sharing with the owners yearly tuberculosis, brucellosis, and Johne’s tests. Then monthly we will be sharing our SCP and SCC counts with the owners. These tests will all be third party testing. We hope to do more testing than that even, but that is the minimum we guarantee that we will be dropping in your inboxes. We welcome questions about our methods, testing, standards, and feed. We want to be transparent. We want you to know that the benefits of our milk far outweigh the risks. We want you to know that this milk has turned a family of skeptics into believers.
