Presenting the Trautman Family Dairy
FEATURING:
- 100% Grass Dairy
- Certified organic herd, Jersey crosses
- Once a day milking
- Calf on cow: Calves stay with mama for about 10 weeks and are then weaned.
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Milk Quality
We pride ourselves on milk that is of excellent quality. Excellent quality is not a fuzzy 'who really knows' kind of thing. Excellent quality milk will have tested characteristics and long lasting and be great tasting.
We run a variable somatic cell count (udder health) of 200-250,000, which highs of 326,00. Pretty darn good, excellent with once a day milking
SPC: 5000 and under, most recent test, 900. Not 9000, 900. 1/5th what is commonly defined as excellent, 5000. This means we keep clean udders and clean equipment. It takes effort and time especially when bedding and outdoor areas are less than ideal as they have been for the last 2 years.
PI/LPC: Two other tests that show equipment/harvest cleanliness. No buildups.
Coliform: almost always zero (less than 1 it says). No crap in the milk folks.
Our milk is clean, 4.5%-5% butterfat, 3.5-3.7% protein, and yellow from the sunshine & 100% grass. And that's year round.
We do additional testing and maintain records, samples & temperature logs. What we do represents excellence in management, from the animal, to the entire farm to the milking systems.
We believe raw milk should be legal, not illegal as it is in Wisconsin. The best use of quality milk like this is without pasteurization, at a premium to organic milk, direct from the farm to consumers. We believe in a system by which we are inspected and certified to assure all providers understand the risks special to raw milk which can cause illness. With the care and pride we take, we know we will represent the very best of the Wisconsin dairy industry.
To our consumer friends: The healthful benefits of 100% grass milk are becoming clear, as science catches up. Milk is not a simple substance. Milk is not Milk under any circumstances. Absolutely feeding grain to cows "pays" on the milk check - but we believe long term costs that are 'arguable' end up making grain feeding not pay.
Our core belief with our dairy and beef -- is that cows are ruminants, that they are uniquely, and perfectly, designed to process forage, and that if the thought and energy is put towards perfecting the forage and the management system around forage, ultimate value will be found, for farmers and consumers when they have all the knowledge about the value of all grass milk.
And why bother with 100% grass diet, anyway? Fantastic benefits await you, the consumer. Here is one short article http://www.eatwild.com/articles/superhealthy.html
2011 is now our 3rd 'full' season 'seriously' milking cows. Once a day works great; 100% grass works great, calves with their own mothers works perfectly. (who knew mothers could take care of their children?), and we remain very happy indeed milking cows.
We have had so very little trouble, and each year has gotten easier. Management mistakes are identified and corrected; and without those mistakes we would have perfect health. Not bad for folks that never milked a cow before 2007, huh?
This past winter, our cows maintained condition better than the previous two years, due to better quality hay made in 2010. We've got a couple of beauties that do really well on 100% grass & milking once a day, and my stars have given us heifers! We shall see..
There is not a more beautiful sight than mothers with their babies on pasture.