Historic Drought in the Midwest for 2012: Was it really that Bad?

If you lived in the Midwest of the United States this year, I’m sure you were very aware of the heat and lack of rain. In a typical year July would be very hot and humid with regular thunderstorms. August would also be hot, but at some point a change would come and the heat/humidity [...]

The Organic Pasture Rule. Is it Good or Bad?

The National Organic Program (NOP) has released new rules for livestock that mandate access to pasture for ruminant animals. These rules require that a percentage of the necessary dry matter intake per day come from pasture.  The minimum is 30% dry matter per head per day for at least 120 days over the grazing season. [...]

Dairy Cows Coming Soon

Amongst many things I do on this farm, I have a custom grazing service for the Amish/Mennonite dairy farmers in the area. Due to the new organic  pasture rule that has just passed through the USDA, organic dairy farms must graze their animals (except for their bulls) in such a way that  a minimum of [...]

The State of Affairs with Organic Milk

Due to my job as plant manager of Farmer’s All-Natural Creamery (where we procure, bottle and sell milk), I get to observe quite a bit of what happens in the organic dairy industry. The past year and a half has been devastating to the dairy industry in general, and very difficult for organic farmers specifically. [...]

Cloned Animals Approved for Meat and Milk

The following is an excerpt from several sources found in various publications on the Internet. What do I think about it? More reason to know your source, buy organic (at the very least), and to evaluate with extreme skepticism any rhetoric put out by the various vested interests of the pharmaceutical and biotech industries.