12-08-30 Learning About Organic Dairy Farming

On Thursday, August 23^rd, the South Eastman Transition Initiative sponsored a visit to Sardius Holsteins, an organic dairy farm a few miles south east of Steinbach. Sam and Anne Appleby together with their son Bill run the farm. Participants began arriving at the milking parlor at about 6:30 p.m., just in time to watch the end of the evening milking. It was fascinating to see how one person can milk about a hundred cows in less than two hours.

Once the milking was done, Sam and Anne engaged the group in a dialogue about organic dairy farming.  Based on their thoughtful answers to difficult questions, it soon became clear to all that they had not chosen the easiest route when it comes to dairy farming. Nevertheless, they spoke convincingly about why it had been a right choice for them.

The Applebys began moving toward organic dairy farming when it became obvious that Sam’s health was being affected negatively by chemicals involved in the conventional dairy industry. But they soon discovered that the organic dairy industry in Manitoba is not nearly as developed as it is in Ontario and Quebec. There are only four registered organic dairy farms in Manitoba. So, understandably, one of the difficulties is collecting and marketing organic dairy products in this province. For that reason a large percentage of their organic milk gets sold to conventional dairy processors. That is unfortunate.

Sam told us that because he does not “push” his cows as hard as other farmers do, his milk production per cow is only about two thirds of what other farmers get. He says he is more interested in keeping healthy cows that maximize production over a life-time than in trying to maintain high levels of production over a fewer number of years.  Some time ago, when their oldest cow died at nineteen years, it was still in full production.

While switching to organic dairy farming has been difficult, Sam noted that, “The longer we work at it, the less of a problem it seems to be.” Their cows tend to be healthier than those on antibiotics, for example.  He stated that in our standard production system antibiotics presently used are less effective against mastitis, an infection in the cow’s udder, than they used to be. Better, he said, to head off infection with an organic approach.

I found one observation Sam made especially interesting. He said that he had noticed that when he bedded his young calves in non-organic straw they would normally develop pneumonia within a week or two. Once he changed to using organic straw, there was a significant reduction in this disease among his calves.

It is obvious that there are other reasons than the bottom line to go into organic dairy farming.  For Sam and Anne it was the right thing to do. As they see it, organic dairy farming will gradually become the only viable method of milk production.

Now if only consumers had better access to organic dairy products.

Our trip to Sardius Holsteins brought up some interesting questions about raw and organic milk in Manitoba! Fill out this survey to help us determine the demand for these products in our area. http://www.setimanitoba.org/milk-survey/

Jack Heppner