Cheese farmer made be a made up term but when you make artisan cheddar cheese from the dairy cows you milk, it seems fitting so it’s what I called David Hemme as I visited the family’s Missouri farmstead creamery!

The Hemmes are committed to “better from the beginning” and the result is incredibly tasty products with an eye on the future.  We cover all the topics from cheese curds to regenerative farming techniques being used on the farm.

(An AI-generated transcript for the episode is available as is a post on some cheese-related vocabulary.)

A History of Dairy, A New Tradition in Cheesemaking

As I talked to David, I though about the family’s rich history in dairy farming and what a major turn it was to decide to start making cheese. He shared that his family has been dairy farming for generations, both here in the US and in Germany. The Hemme family’s commitment to dairy farming had been passed down through generations, with a strong emphasis on quality and tradition.

But as his dad aged, he got out of the dairy business because of the toll it takes on a person. Eventually David got back into it later and as his children became adults, decided he had to find a way to be more profitable.

That’s where the cheesemaking came in. In a really ironic twist, David points out, that though he hadn’t tasted artisan cheese, they decided they would invest and borrow money to do it! David points out that most rural grocery stores have tended to carry the basics over the years. But with the big cities of Kansas City, Columbia and St. Louis all nearby, there were lots of speciality shops and higher-end grocers offering a range of products. Through consulting with various experts, they decided to focus on cheddar first. They have grown from there.

Now David’s sons — the Hemme Brothers — all have roles with the business and are looking forward to future generations getting involved too. Jon focuses on the crop work, Michael on the dairy cows and Nathan on the cheesemaking.

Cheddar & The Love of Curds

Since Americans love a great cheddar cheese, thats where the Hemme’s focused first. They developed a good cheddar and since then have added a range of flavors to go on top. They now have an applewood smoked, rubbed & smoked that has an unique eye appeal, black pepper chedder, espresso cheddar, spicy ghost cheddar, a mild cheddar and aged cheddar that has more of a sharp flavor.

One thing David didn’t expect, was how much people love cheese curds — the fresh curds left over after cheddar curds are pressed to become blocks. He remembers historically how creameries would sell those at the end of the day and how it wasn’t seen as desirable as it is now. Great protein source for sure and lower income people prioritized getting some at their local creamery as shifts ended. Over the years, there were fewer small producers, so fewer cheese curds available. Now, people love the convenience of a zip top bag and small pieces you can grab on the go, no knife needed. And the abundance of choices in flavors means everyone gets something to enjoy.

I was headed to Kansas City after my visit to the Hemmes’ so I loaded up my cooler (David was nice enough to gift me some incredible samples!) and with a group of friends can attest to loving all the flavors. The espresso was probably the most surprising for me in part because I’m not a coffee drinker. But the cheeses were so fantastic, one friend followed up on a tip going to The Better Cheddar and getting some of the reserve they make with the Hemmes’ cheddar!

Adding Other Cheeses & More to the Mix

Once the Hemmes got their cheddar game on point, they started adding other cheese to the mix.

Since I was there during the height of tomato season, I was excited to learn they make some amazing fresh mozzarella. I became addicted to it when I was living in New York and renting from a large Italian family who often used fresh mozzarella in whatever was coming to the table. David told me that the cows were milked Wednesday, the Mozzarella was made Thursday and was hitting farmers markets on Saturday! We had an amazing caprese platter while I was visiting friends.

There is also a German cheese called quark the Hemmes make. It’s also a fresh product which packs in the protein but takes on the flavors of whatever you mix or serve it with. It’s more of a consistency of ricotta or something so it’s sold by the jar. David tells us it’s great in the kitchen — he says it makes incredible desserts like cheesecake and with the high protein content it is very filling. He also recommends mixing in some honey and blueberry in and says you can’t help yourself. You’ll eat it by the spoonful or on ciabatta bread, crackers, whatever! That Hemme Quark has won awards among the American Cheese Society.

They also make feta cheese in both blocks and as crumbles. It’s a big hit with scrambled eggs and on that perfect spinach salad in my world!

Last year was the first year the family made a melting cheese they have been calling a pizza cheese. David says that members of the Hispanic community in Kansas City tell them it’s what they grew up with in Mexico and other Central American countries so the name may be changing but the stretchability and that great melt that holds together, those will be sticking he says!

David also has been working on smoked meats to round out those charcuterie offerings. They have a sopressesa and sweet bologna.

A Tour of the Creamery

My tour led me around the creamery and we saw the place where the cheese is made, the aging cave, and more!

Where to Find Hemme Brothers

The family focuses on Missouri primarily with them handling some distribution and working with others some too. You can find the family at two big farmers’ markets — David goes to the Overland Park farmers market in the KC metro and Nathan handles the farmers’ market in Columbia. There are specialty shops of various kinds throughout the state selling Hemme Brothers and here in St. Louis where I live, I can pick it up at my local Schnuck’s and Dierberg’s grocery stores. And as weather cools down, they will return to e-commerce too — no doubt a purchase to consider for the holiday cheeseboard you want to make!

• If you find any of the words in this episode new to you, we have a list of some cheese vocabulary and definitions in this other post.
• The Hemme Brothers website hemmebrothers.com
• Hemme Brothers on Instagram
• Hemme Brother on Facebook

Castmagic is the AI tool (link to Castmagic & give me a referral fee that doesn’t impact your cost) that helps with some of the content shared here and on social channels. It helps me do more faster since I don’t stare at a blank screen. 

The post Artisan Cheddar from the Farm: Cheese Curds & Conservation appeared first on Grounded by the Farm.

Love that we get to talk about so many different ideas in the world of cheese with our conversation with artisan cheddar cheesemaker and dairy farmer David Hemme with this episode!

1. Curds: The solid part of milk that forms during the cheesemaking process when an acid or enzyme is added.
2. Hoop: A device used in cheesemaking to shape and press the curds into a solid block.
3. Creamery: A place where milk is processed into various dairy products, such as cheese, butter, and cream.
4. Artisan cheese: High-quality cheese, typically handcrafted by skilled cheesemakers using traditional methods and often made in small batches.
5. Cheese curds: Fresh or young cheese that hasn’t matured fully and still retains a slight squeak when bitten into. These are more common with artisan batches.
6. Ciabatta: A type of bread, also known as ciabatta, with a soft and chewy texture. Oh so good too.
7. Soprasada: A type of Italian dry-cured sausage, typically made from pork.
8. Artisan pizza: A traditional, high-quality pizza made with carefully chosen ingredients and often baked in a wood-fired oven.
9. Hispanic cheese: Cheese varieties commonly consumed in Hispanic cuisines, such as queso fresco or queso blanco. They have a different type of stretch and melt qualities than cheddar.
10. Shelf-stable cheese: Cheese that is preserved using chemicals to prevent spoilage and allow for a longer shelf life without refrigeration.
11. Cereal rye: A type of grain used for cover cropping, which helps improve soil health and reduce erosion during the winter months.
12. Carbon capture: The process of capturing and storing carbon dioxide (CO2) from the atmosphere to mitigate climate change.
13. Cattle manure compost: Decomposed or partially decomposed cow manure that is used as a soil amendment to enhance fertility and nutrient content.
14. American Cheese Society: An organization dedicated to promoting and supporting the artisan and specialty cheese industry in the United States through education, networking, and advocacy.
15. Young cheddar: Cheddar cheese that hasn’t matured for an extended period, resulting in a milder flavor and softer texture.

These concepts and their definitions provide insight into the various aspects of cheesemaking, dairy farming, and food production discussed in episode 411 of Grounded by the Farm.

Castmagic is the AI tool (link to Castmagic & give me a referral fee that doesn’t impact your cost) that helps with some of the content shared here and on social channels. It helps me do more faster since I don’t stare at a blank screen. 

The post Cheese Making & Enjoyment: A Great Cheese Vocabulary List appeared first on Grounded by the Farm.

Milk is in just about everyone’s fridge. And cheese, yogurt, sour cream, and ice cream. Especially ice cream. Dairy products are so ubiquitous that it can be easy to take them for granted and not think about where they come from. But let’s take a moment to dig in and get the scoop with some dairy basics we have featured on the podcast. If you still have questions, please speak up!

Shout out to Midwest Dairy for sponsoring the series and helping us line up participants.

Different Ways to Dairy

When I got the chance to tour two different dairy farms, you better believe I jumped at the chance. I always enjoy the chance to compare and contrast, and touring and then sitting down to talk with Anthony & Charlie Coblentz and Logan Courtney. I think like everything, when you are presented with two things, you undoubtedly will see similarities and differences. The physical pieces are easy to catch and various topics were highlighted at each farm as questions were asked.

What was most striking to me, though, was how focused both farms were on making sure their cows were pampered and comfortable. The Coblentz’s black and white Holstein cows like lots of shade and a nice fan to relax under. The Courtney’s Jersey cows prefer to enjoy the great outdoors. One farm milks on a schedule in a traditional milking parlor, the other whenever the girls what to come in and get milked by the milking robot! And those are just a few of the ways their dairy farms differ! But the real thing that brings both farms together is the care they take with their cows. Though they do things differently, the dairy basics are the same. Happy cows make lots of milk!

Dairy and Sustainability Go Hand-in-Hand

Environmental common ground isn’t what everyone expects to find when environmental scientists and farmers sit down together. But maybe we should. The health of our soils, shifting weather patterns and the role of greenhouse gases and more means there is a lot to talk about and work on too.

Some of the cows grazing on the Peterson farm

We talked with Missouri dairy farmer Alex Peterson and Alisha Staggs, a sustainability expert who leads the dairy program with The Nature Conservancy‘s (TNC) North American Agriculture program. TNC is one of the world’s largest and most respected environmental organizations. As it turns out, grazing cows on prairies can have a huge benefit on the landscape, both with manure as a natural fertilizer and having the cows walking across the grasses to gently work the soil. Prairies, with their complicated and extensive root systems can hold as much and sometimes more carbon than trees. According to Alex, this is a win-win-win situation!

And it’s not just dairy that’s getting in on this. Beef ranchers in Missouri are also working with TNC to graze their cattle on the tallgrass prairie as a part of the prairie management plan, eating invasive plants, pushing seeds into the ground with their hooves, and fertilizing with manure. Like Alex’s dairy cows, these beef cattle are helping the prairie build more root mass, improve soil, and capture more water.

Say Cheese! Our Conve with a Cheesemonger!

There are titles that go almost unnoticed, but being a cheesemonger definitely stands out! It took a long time but eventually, I met a cheesemonger. That cheesemonger, Jessica Keahey (founder of Sweet Freedom Cheese in Bentonville, Arkansas), led a virtual meetup and cheese tasting. I was lucky enough to meet her in person when I toured the Coblentz and Courtney dairies, but nothing prepared me for the glorious cheese heaven when I finally made it in person to her cheese shop Sweet Freedom in Bentonville, Arkansas.

I got to try so many cheeses, from the simplicity of a cheddar made with carmelized onions to something seriously adventurous, and I even had to bring some home with me. I learned how to correctly store cheese (hint: NOT in plastic wrap) and the secrets to making a fantastic charcuterie board.

All of that cheese tasting reminded me of our season 2 episode with Farmer Tom in the UK and his Cheese-a-Day Challenge. It’s so great to meet folks who are so passionate about food and love to have fun with it like these do.

Staying Up-to-Date

We love connecting food and farming with a new episode every two weeks. We’ve covered a lot of favorite foods in the past and make it easy for you to find farms in your part of the country with this map. You can subscribe to get emails on future episodes from the website, listen to the podcast in your favorite app and connect with us on social media. In fact, if you find a platform we aren’t on, please let us know so we can add it!

Connect with Grounded by the Farm Online

We love connecting with listeners/readers online. You can find and follow our podcast in almost any app out there. In fact, if you find a platform we aren’t on, please let us know so we can add it!

• GroundedbytheFarm.com for photos & videos, blog posts, show notes, and more. You can even get new content emailed once a week by subscribing.
• Find your favorite foods on our website 
• Grounded by the Farm Facebook Page 
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The post Dairy Basics: Get to Know Your Milk & Cheese appeared first on Grounded by the Farm.

Common ground is a phrase that is said less frequently these days, and environmental common ground isn’t what everyone expects happens when environmental scientists and farmers sit down together. But maybe we should.

The health of our soils, shifting weather patterns and the role of greenhouse gases and more means there is a lot to talk about and work on too. In this episode of Grounded by the Farm, we talk with Missouri dairy farmer Alex Peterson and Alisha Staggs, a sustainability expert who leads the dairy program with The Nature Conservancy‘s (TNC) North American Agriculture program. TNC is one of the world’s largest and most respected environmental organizations.

This is the third and final episode in our series on dairy. We visited two dairy farms in Oklahoma, talked to a cheesemonger and now look at the environmental footprint. Shouts out to Midwest Dairy for sponsoring the series and helping us line up participants. Please let us know if you have questions remaining about dairy.

Meeting Virtually

While both Alex & Alisha are deep in the world of dairy — him farming and her working to increase the adoption of conservation practices — our zoom interview was their first chance to meet.

Alex farms with family in north central Missouri. He says the rolling hills are beautiful and well suited to grazing rather than planting crops like corn. They have a management intensive grazing operation, which basically means they move cows from one pasture to another regularly to keep the pastures growing great grasses and give the cows access to a fresh area often. He also is involved with a few groups in agriculture including Midwest Dairy saying that he finds it provides him a lot of opportunities to learn from other farmers as well as experts like Alisha.

Alisha says she grew up along the Oklahoma-Arkansas state line with family who had beef cattle. While she studied biology and everyone felt certain she was headed to becoming a veterinarian, she found her niche in supply chain sustainability. She’s worked for environmental organizations as well as in corporate sustainability. With her focus on dairy at The Nature Conservancy, she says part of the role is in connecting information as well as people as they chart a roadmap through continual environmental improvements.

I think it is safe to say, you can hear the enthusiasm all three of us have for the topic in the podcast episode!

Where is the environmental common ground?

Alisha jumped right in on the topic of grazing as she says it can often be overlooked for the contributions sustainable grazing practices have to mitigating climate change, improving soil health, increasing native wildlife and more. The prairies are such environmentally valuable properties that The Nature Conservancy has a commitment to their preservation and to restoring some of the grasslands that have been repurposed. In fact, TNC’s goal is clearly laid out on their site saying they want “to improve management on 240 million acres (30%) of U.S. grazing lands by 2030, resulting in enhanced wildlife habitat, soil carbon storage, water quality, and rural economies.”

Alex says the process of grazing enables cows to get access to grass and the breed of cows on their farm, which is actually a combination of breeds, thrive outdoors like hikers and campers. They go out into the grass, eat, spend time chewing their cuds (ie digesting the grass), leave manure out there, over time their hooves tramp the manure back into the soil fueling more grass to grow. The cycle works really well. You may remember that Oklahoma dairy farmer Logan Courtney also does similar grazing for cows on his farm.

Alex says his family has seen some of those benefits first-hand as they made changes. But that it helps to have partners like TNC to help them quantify some of the impacts and be engaged in conversations with other parts of the supply chain. He said he knows people are looking for more information about the environmental footprint and partners like The Nature Conservancy provide a level of expertise and trust.

Some of the cows grazing on the Peterson farm

People frequently talk about the role trees play in converting carbon dioxide to fuel plant growth, but some of the grasses in the Midwest and Plains have incredibly extensive root systems. Those root systems can, at times, be more powerful than some trees in that the depth to which they go can drive carbon sequestration deeper as well provide the soil more water holding capacity to help the prairie when rains aren’t as frequent etc.

Alisha says she’s seen a lot of variability among reports on how many of the soils are healthy or degraded, but no matter what that number is, there is unified vision that healthier soils are better for the environment, farmers and more. Alex calls it the win-win-win.

Cattle Feed and Methane?

One of the more unusual pieces of environmental common ground is likely the discussion around feed additives or supplements for cows. Alex explains that his cows have access to the pasture grasses a lot of the time and get some mixed rations that include other nutrition, etc. when they go into the milking barn. And both Alex and Alisha are excited about some of the recent studies on feed additives that could help cows be more effective with the rumen (the four stomached system that allows them to extract nutrition from grass, etc but also creates methane).

Alisha points to the dairy industry’s Net Zero Initiative and the Feed in Focus program TNC, Net Zero Initiative and agricultural input company Syngenta have focusing on sustainability and determining what works in different farm scenarios. It is currently being used in two states and will be expanded as impacts are better understood so the beneficial components can be shared widely. I found this video about the Net Zero Initiative really interesting and helpful in understanding the approach.

Alex says he is especially encouraged that the most promising additives were identified during efforts to increase milk production, which show the interconnected nature of everything on the farm. Doing something that benefits one aspect needs to be checked for impacts on the other pieces. Farmers want to do what’s right for the animals, the environment, dairy customers but also have to be able to make things work financially. Having partnerships through TNC where others in that chain are willing to help with some of the investment risks means it’s easier to take on the other risks.

It was such a productive meeting that, Alisha found a TNC ranch not far from Alex and they are looking to arrange a tour to see what can be picked up there!

Staying Up-to-Date

The post Finding Environmental Common Ground: Dairy & Nature appeared first on Grounded by the Farm.

There are titles that go almost unnoticed, but being a cheesemonger definitely stands out! It took a long time but eventually, I met a cheesemonger. That cheesemonger, Jessica Keahey (founder of Sweet Freedom Cheese in Bentonville, Arkansas), led a virtual meetup and cheese tasting.

We toured two dairy farms together recently and I was pumped when Midwest Dairy agreed to sponsor my trip down to cheese central! We certainly weren’t short of topics to discuss and Jessica kept coming up with cheese puns to keep it light!

So what are some of the things you can learn from a cheesemonger? Sit back cause this episode is a doozy! We hit so many different areas of discussion!

An AI generated transcript is available.

This post is sponsored by Midwest Dairy. Ashley Anderson who also in part of the episode, is the wellness director there. I was compensated for my time, but all wording and opinions are mine or the people sharing them.

Blessed Are the Cheesemongers

Jessica has had a passion for cheese for years. She’s traveled learning about it, took classes in Vermont, Pennsylvania, Arkansas and with various cheesemakers around the country. She ultimately started Sweet Freedom in 2013.

The shop is Arkansas’ first cut-to-order cheese shop and is located in the 8th Street Market which offers lots of options for people to enjoy food, from permanent shops like Sweet Freedom to food trucks.

The entire team at Sweet Freedom seems to have a love for cheese and helping people really enjoy it, whether that is finding new cheese experiences for you to serve up at home, a gift for the cheese lover in your life or a quick lunch before you head back to the office.

Enjoying All the Cheeses

When Jessica said we could taste whatever cheeses we wanted, I was worried I would overdo. I could have kept Jessica and the team busy with all the things for hours. Luckily, a local chef (Jaye Parker, co-owner of 52 Kilo and Prelude Breakfast Bar) was in working up a cheese board offering and that gave a lot of cover for trying all the cheeses!

There were a lot of ways to be a bit more adventurous or to be REALLY adventurous. Something as simple as a cheddar made with caramelized onions (we have a podcast episode on onions) or horseradish takes you a step away from the cheese that comes pre-wrapped in the grocery case (I buy lots of that too!). And I’ve liked gouda a long time but having one that was aged for five years brought new textures and all… I will say I was sold on all three of the ones I mentioned! All were from cheesemakers in the Midwest too! And I went there absolutely planning to get tubs of Edgewood Creamery’s Milk & Honey…. sadly they have since closed. 

Sweet Freedom makes it easy for visual thinkers like me with the signs they put on each cheese displaying what type of animal the milk is from, country of origin flag along with some of the other information it’s good to have on hand as you consider what you may want to try.

While I joked I was eating all the cheeses, it’s amazing how fast those tasting slivers or chunks add up! I had to tap out after a while! And being able to buy a quarter pound of several to bring home meant some unique grilled cheese sandwiches for a bit.

Getting a Look Around Sweet Freedom Cheese

Since Sweet Freedom is in the midst of a market, we started with the podcast and enjoyed tastings & browsing the shop as the lunch crowd came in. We captured some of all of it for the video too! Jessica even walks through some of the cheese tools she thinks no home should be without.

Everyone Loves a Good Cheese Board or Charcuterie Board!

Cheese & charcuterie boards have more than gone mainstream in the last several years and I had to confess, sometimes it can get intimidating. So I asked Jessica to give some tips.

How much cheese do you need?

How much cheese is usually the first question to ask/answer. If you want to eat cheese once or twice or you really like cheese or you know it’s for after dinner, a good cheesemonger can help you with quantity. Typically Jessica says an ounce of cheese per cheese per person as a serving.

How many cheeses?

Sweet Freedom recommends anywhere from three to five cheeses. Beyond five and it can get confusing to figure out what each cheese is, what else to pair with it, etc. And, if you’re eating one ounce per cheese, that’s five ounces of cheese, which is plenty.

How do you pick the mixture of cheeses?

Going to a shop or grocery store that cuts to order is a way to taste test and I will say it allowed me to be more adventurous with the cheeses I was willing to put on the next board I made! Start with what you like — afterall you want to go home with something you love. Typically you want a variety — maybe a soft cheese, a hard cheese or something in between, Sweet Freedom might do you know, a planer style cheese, some flavored cheeses, and then just kind of work from there. It’s nice to have a variety of textures and colors. Some cheeses have external mold and internal mold.

How do you pick all the other stuff to go on the board? 

Jessica says they have a magic formula. Charcuterie is a French word that actually does mean kind of charred or cooked meat. And so technically, if you have a charcuterie board, it’s a meat board. And they do also have a cured meat section — salami, chorizo, thinly sliced country ham, etc. Depending on the size of the group, one or two meats. Since cured meats are more concentrated and saltier, people tend to enjoy just a bit. Use plenty of fresh fruit and vegetables, as much as you want because whatever color it brings kind of rounds it out. Sweet Freedom also uses pickled items — pickled Brussel sprouts, olives, pickled okra, whatever — because the acid tends to cut through the fattiness of the cheese, to help the palate. Nuts offer other textures, as do crackers or breads. Potato chips are fun and jams and jellies are sometimes the right addition too, Jessica adds. She walks us through a great way of thinking through complimentary and contrasting options (which is sort of the take home from the dairy farm tours we did a couple of weeks ago as benefits to both!)

Let’s Connect on Other Channels Too!

Ashley, Jessica & Janice after a morning totally focused on cheese! Perfect way to get genuine smiles!

Every two weeks we put out a new episode. Learning more about how foods are produced and the people doing that. If you are new here, you can probably find a favorite food in our previous episodes or maybe you’d just like to wander around the map to see something close by. You can subscribe to get emails on future episodes from the website, listen to the podcast in your favorite app and connect with us on social media. In fact, if you find a platform we aren’t on, please let us know so we can add it!

Sweet Freedom Cheese

Obviously, you can find the shop in Bentonville, Arkansas! It’s close to a favorite museum of mine (Crystal Bridges). Go with a cooler in hand cause you’ll want to take some home! Their website is SweetFreedomCheese.com and they can be found on Instagram (such great cheese photos) and Facebook.

Learning More About Dairy

We have one more episode to do in this series to talk about the environmental sustainability piece! There is an episode & post about dairy farmers and lots more resources on the web too. Here are a few resources if you are “Undeniably Dairy:”

• The Undeniably Dairy website
• Undeniably Dairy Instagram
• Undeniably Dairy on Facebook
• Dairy Good on Twitter

The post Called to Live the Cheese Life, Interview with a Cheesemonger appeared first on Grounded by the Farm.

Maybe it started with PBS as a kid, but I love to compare and contrast things. So when the team at Midwest Dairy recently asked if I would like to see two different dairy farms and interview them, I jumped at the opportunity. Next thing I knew the podcast had it’s first sponsor and I was in northeastern Oklahoma meeting some farmers!

The differences between the two and some of the similarities among them were really striking. After the tours, I sat down with Anthony & Charlie Coblentz and Logan Courtney, a neighbor whose dairy is just 15 minutes or so away. Touring first helped me see some of the differences and similarities and you can watch the video… you will hear and see both farms.

An AI generated transcript is available.

This post is sponsored by Midwest Dairy. I was compensated for my time, but all wording and opinions are mine or the farmers.

Meet the Dairy Farmers

We went to visit the Coblentz and the Courtney families.

The Coblentz family has had a dairy farm since 1972 when Charles & Ellen Coblentz decided to start the dairy. The family had farmed for quite some time and Mr. Coblentz says that his uncle had a dairy farm down the road. And while most people in the area back then may have had a cow, he wanted a barn full! He has three sons who are part of the farming operation. Charles & sons Charlie & Anthony spent the day with us.

Logan Courtney is a Gen Z farmer. There was always something about cows for him. While the family raised beef cattle, Logan had a chance to learn about dairy as a teen and decided that was for him. After college he started a dairy with his family’s support, especially his sister Autumn, who works on the farm as well as in town as a librarian. (I have lots of love for librarians!)

How To Compare or Contrast Two Dairy Farms

I’m glad I didn’t have to figure this out until I got there! But I think like everything, when you are presented with two things, you undoubtedly will see similarities and differences. The physical pieces are easy to catch and various topics were highlighted at each farm as questions were asked.

One of the most obvious differences is scale — the Coblentz dairy has 400 or so cows they are milking whereas Logan has 70. But some of the differences you may attribute to scale also go to the differences in the breed of cows they have. The black and white Holstein that most Americans equate to dairy is found on the Coblentz farm. They are larger, produce more gallons of milk and prefer to get in the shade and relax on a hot day so the Coblentz’s have a big barn with lots of fans as well as a large area for the cows to be covered as they come in for milking. Logan’s herd are pedigree jersey cows who put lots of protein and fat into milk (so good for cheese!) and they like being outdoors most of the year. Of course the Holsteins have access to pasture and Logan has some windbreaks and covered areas, but the cows seem to stick with what they like at both places!

Another piece that captures the eye? The differences in the way the two farms milk their cows. For the Coblentz family, it is scheduled to start at 5 am and 5 pm daily. A couple members of the family or maybe a hired hand work in the milking parlor together, getting 30 cows set on one side of the parlor before working on the other side with another 30 cows. Since I was there mid-day, we didn’t get to see the parlor operating, but I have video from another farm that’s got a similar set up. You may even remember an earlier blog post about some of the sustainability practices on that dairy.

 

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That’s the more typical type of milking system but there are several other styles that work similarly. The robotic milker that the Courtneys purchased is a bit different and Logan says, with a bit of pride, that his farm was the first to have a robot milking cows in Oklahoma. Since then, there have been a couple more added to the state. I first saw robotic milkers at a friend’s dairy farm in Michigan a decade ago. It’s more common place in Europe with smaller farms. And Logan says it really helps on workload as the robot milks around the clock, whenever cows want to be milked. They come and go as they like. Logan said the average is 2.5 milkings per day and that the robot collects all kinds of data on each cow. Sorry, it doesn’t look like anything from the Jetsons or Star Wars…. In fact, it reminded me as much of a 3D printer as anything! I’ll drop a photo here, but rest assured we saw it working AND you get Logan’s narration on the video from his farm later in this post.

Which dairy farm is better?

At the end of the day, I felt really comfortable with the way both farms were managing things. They both have specific reasons for making the decisions they do, all of them are focused on delivering animal care and comfort, a favorable environmental impact AND healthy, nutritious food they are proud to serve at home. The only real controversy came when we started talking about favorite dairy products! Charlie and Anthony were solidly team ice cream while Logan is a cheese guy (if you are then you really should hear this interview with a cheesemonger!). I have to say I like both of those options a lot! I think you need to see both to see for yourself how I could arrive at such an answer, so here are videos from the two farms.

Touring the Coblentz Farm

Touring the Courtney Dairy

Please Look For Us Wherever You Follow Content Creators

Every two weeks we put out a new episode. Learning more about how foods are produced and the people doing that. If you are new here, you can probably find a favorite food in our previous episodes or maybe you’d just like to wander around the map to see something close by. You can subscribe to get emails on future episodes from the website, listen to the podcast in your favorite app and connect with us on social media. In fact, if you find a platform we aren’t on, please let us know so we can add it!

Our Website

• You are on GroundedbytheFarm.com which is our hub for photos & videos, blog posts, show notes, podcasts are here and more. You can even get new content emailed once a week as we publish by subscribing here.
• Find your favorite foods or fun food educational resource information here on the website.

Learning More About Dairy

In our next episode, we talk to a cheesemonger! But you don’t have to wait to then as there is a lot of info from dairy farmers on the web too. Here are a few resources if you are Undeniably Dairy:

• The Undeniably Dairy website
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The post A Tale of Two Dairies: Visiting Two Dairy Farms & Talking Similarities & Differences appeared first on Grounded by the Farm.

This post about a sustainable dairy farm is sponsored by Midwest Dairy. I was compensated for my time, but all wording and opinions are mine.

In the first podcast I posted, background on how my love of discovery about the environmental side of farming led me to spend my entire career in agriculture. And I love learning more. There are always new things to see and do. So when I was invited out to see a dairy farm just an hour from home, I jumped at it. That’s how I ended up spending the day at the Riegel’s Dairy Farm outside of St. Louis with Brian Riegel giving us a tour and talking through everything.

Since I’ve been to several dairy farms in the past, some of the things that excite newcomers are a bit more familiar to me, but there is always something to get excited about. And this definitely proved the case while we were in the maternity barn.

Calf Just Born

We saw a calf that had just been born — mom was still cleaning it up and before long it had gotten up on it’s feet walking!

And then we realized she was getting ready to give birth to a twin! You can see the hooves, below. But quite frankly the cow was so focused on the first calf that she wasn’t trying to push this one out. The new one was born about 20 minutes later I hear, and both are healthy & were up walking around.

Looking at the Dairy Barns

Walking around, it was easy to notice how much the barns are thought through. The maternity barn had areas where the farm team could separate a cow that’s ready to give birth from the others, When a new calf is born, Brian explained, the momma cow can perceive others (cows, people, etc) as a threat to the calf so more privacy is warranted.

Cows that are currently being milked are in another barn nearby, with ready access to the milking parlor. And their day is focused on a good bit of eating and hanging out. We saw cows chilling on beds of sand and a flush of water came through to wash the manure to a lagoon that is monitored and will go back onto the farm’s land to fertilize the crops.

If you look closely you see cows laying down on sand beds in the background, while a flush of water pushes manure toward the lagoon.

Brian talked about how it’s a circle of sustainability. The manure feeds the crops which feed the cows. That’s part of upcycling but there was a lot more when we got into the various kinds of feed grown or supplied to the cows.

Sustainable Feeds the Riegels Use

Dairy farmers are big on nutrition, making sure the cows are getting a balanced diet that really suits the calf or cow where they are. He talks to us about what cows eat and why.

Brian points out that with the ruminant’s stomach, they need a lot of ruffage. People use various types of feed to cover that, his farm grows corn for silage which offers a lot of fiber and energy for the cows according to the University of Nebraska.  Silage is a way of taking the entire corn plant (leaves, corn cobs, etc), shredding it up to smaller pieces and fermenting it under tarps and tracking its quality. And that fermenting process encourages the growth of good bacteria for the cow’s digestive system.

Brian took a handful of the silage to show us. The smell clearly lets you know immediately it’s fermented! Not many in our group wanted to eat it though!

As we walked around, he showed us some of the other components of feed that he doesn’t produce. And several of them are left over from making things people like, that seems like a core sustainable dairy practice.

One component that grabs the attention of beer drinkers is brewer’s grain! It’s sent to farms wet and was pretty warm to the touch. But being so close to St. Louis, Brian said there is a lot of brewer’s grain readily available and experts point to the benefits of the high protein content it offers a cow’s diet. Love that it gets upcycled rather than trashed — that protein goes back into cows making milk for my high protein yogurts and all. When we talked to the guys about farming connections at a brewery, I forgot to even ask about this!

They also use some of the byproducts from a plant that makes grits, not sure a lot of folks in the Midwest eat grits, but down south, I’m guessing there is plenty to dispose of. Brian said it’s a bit dustier than most hominy but it’s similar. I missed snagging a photo of it though.

The last of the food waste type byproducts Brian showed us that his farm upcycles is cottonseed. Cottonseed provides cows with energy and protein as well as some fiber! Everyone got photos of cottonseed! And it’s my favorite — I mean I have been JPlovesCOTTON on Twitter for more than a decade and started blogging in what became Hundred Percent Cotton! Of course Grounded by the Farm (podcast/website/social media) is sort of a combination of so many of those ideas.

All of this stuff gets mixed together with a big machine that delivers it to the cows throughout the day. And the cows enjoy it!

Lots of Sustainable Dairy Farmers

I’ve seen lots of other farmers who do similar kinds of upcycling and love that frequently different parts of the country have some different things that fit a cow’s needs. For instance, dairy cows in Florida get citrus pulp that’s left over from making orange juice and things! And according, to the info Midwest Dairy gave me, that means up to 306 million pounds of food waste can be captured and used by dairies, keeping it from going to landfills. They have a video that captures some of the other sustainable dairy pieces too.

The post How a Sustainable Dairy Farm Upcycles Things to Produce Great Milk appeared first on Grounded by the Farm.

In our episode talking about farming chickens, Lauren mentioned biosecurity. Another big word connected to livestock and human health is zoonoses.

The word zoonoses…. seeing that on my screen makes me wonder how many of us giggle at the idea of zoo noses. You know, like an elephant’s trunk or the orangutan’s smooshed-up nose? But, amusing name aside, zoonoses (one word) are a really serious topic for livestock farmers and ranchers, especially in our current COVID-era world. The World Health Organization gives a good definition for it:

A zoonosis is an infectious disease that has jumped from a non-human animal to humans. Zoonotic pathogens may be bacterial, viral or parasitic, or may involve unconventional agents and can spread to humans through direct contact or through food, water or the environment. They represent a major public health problem around the world due to our close relationship with animals in agriculture, as companions and in the natural environment. Zoonoses can also cause disruptions in the production and trade of animal products for food and other uses.

Zoonoses comprise a large percentage of all newly identified infectious diseases as well as many existing ones. Some diseases, such as HIV, begin as a zoonosis but later mutate into human-only strains. Other zoonoses can cause recurring disease outbreaks, such as Ebola virus disease and salmonellosis. Still others, such as the novel coronavirus that causes COVID-19, have the potential to cause global pandemics.

via WHO | Zoonoses.

The current pandemic is a zoonotic illness. It is hardly the first. In fact, Marybeth Feutz as a vet & cattle farmer talked about diseases like this –and it won’t be the last–so I think it’s important to talk about what zoonoses mean to farmers and agriculture.

My Background with Zoonoses

Not zoo noses, zoonoses.

I tell folks regularly that I love ag but I was a hardcore crop person a long time. In the last decade, I have learned a lot about livestock and good animal husbandry from friends who farm. And as I get to thinking, I remembered a dear friend and one of the best neighbors ever left Mississippi years ago for a job in DC metro with USDA’s APHIS Wildlife Services to work on wildlife diseases. Somehow I had forgotten that all the things Seth took time to teach me about wildlife held consequences for livestock and people.

See, Seth took that job as avian flu was a big concern. It was a time when folks like me who love to travel around the world were being more cautious. Extra shots for various things didn’t seem as big of a deal and we wished there were shots for avian flu. We also weren’t sure whether we could get medicines while traveling in other world areas so before we went to the airport, we’d get prescriptions and hold onto them. Well, Seth was one of the front line forces in monitoring diseases that may move with wildlife migration, how those animals could cause problems for farms and ranches and potentially on us as people.

As I looked around for resources online, I actually found some research Seth compiled on feral hogs, those wild pigs that run loose in the South. If you aren’t familiar with them, count yourself lucky. Those are some mean sons of guns. In the Delta, I heard of people being chased up a tree by them! Well Seth and some colleagues wrote a paper about a program they had to monitor feral pigs, diseases carried and their proximity to livestock, etc. It is the kind of thing I never had thought of until Seth took that job. What’s cool as I looked through the info, it seems Seth and the experts agree that the US has a vigilant program that has done well staying on top of these potential threats. He’s moved around the country a bit, still doing wildlife work, but that research seems even more relevant today since we know that COVID-19 is a zoonotic disease.

Emerging Zoonotic Diseases

Thinking about what the potential issues are, I found the WHO website interesting as it explained:

Zoonotic pathogens can spread to humans through any contact point with domestic, agricultural or wild animals. Markets selling the meat or by-products of wild animals are particularly high risk due to the large number of new or undocumented pathogens known to exist in some wild animal populations. Agricultural workers in areas with a high use of antibiotics for farm animals may be at increased risk of pathogens resistant to current antimicrobial drugs. People living adjacent to wilderness areas or in semi-urban areas with higher numbers of wild animals are at risk of disease from animals such as rats, foxes or raccoons. Urbanization and the destruction of natural habitats increase the risk of zoonotic diseases by increasing contact between humans and wild animals.

via WHO | Zoonoses.

Preventing Problems with Zoonoses

Ryan Goodman and I talked about how seriously they take the health of their cows on a recent episode of the Grounded by the Farm podcast. It’s a lot more complicated and hands-on than most folks realize, but as Ryan said, “If it wasn’t well cared for and well-fed, it wouldn’t be here for us to eat.”

Back in March of 2020, back in the earliest days of the pandemic, I did one of my first virtual interviews with Marybeth Feutz, a beef farmer and veterinarian. Her experience as a vet gives such an interesting perspective on animal health and keeping cattle safe from illness. Check out the second part of our 2 part series where we talk cow respiratory health and coronaviruses. Realistically, because of the fact that livestock doesn’t often interact with big crowds of people, there’s not a lot of danger in us getting a respiratory illness from cows and other livestock. The way the food system in the US and Europe is structured largely prevents this. But we need to take care to protect them so that our illnesses don’t transfer from us to them. This is why you can’t just drop in on a pig farm or chicken barn. The farmers need to keep their animals safe from outside illnesses.

A Tough Spot for Farmers

Another farmer friend of mine, Val Wagner had a real problem with deer a couple of winters in a row, which brings to mind the recent concerns of white-tailed deer testing positive for COVID-19. Val wrote about this situation a few years back when they struggled with how to handle their white-tailed deer population. They not only monitored it on the farm but got fish & game involved when the numbers seemed problematic. There just weren’t many good options that didn’t have really sad results. Val wrote:

So, you see, we’re in a tough spot. If we don’t feed the deer, they will get sick and die. But may expose our cows to all sorts of unwanted stuff.

If we feed the deer, they won’t leave, and could still get sick and die. And we will still have exposure to whatever it is they are carrying.

We have already spent money on buying panels to place all around our feed, such as the silage that we cut and the freshly-ground hay. Game and Fish suggest that we space our hay stacks closer together, but our insurance insists that our hay stays further apart. I personally don’t believe that where our hay is located would make much difference to this large number of animals.

The amount of money that has been lost through the hay and feed that has been destroyed is almost nauseating. But the danger to the health of our herd is what has us the most concerned. We are doing all we can to protect our livestock, but it would be nice if there was a better system in place to assist producers that come across these issues.

via Ever increasing problem | Wag’n Tales.

Talking Coronaviruses and Zoonoses with Dr. Stephanie Langel

Recently, in a live session for Grounded and Rising (a membership & training site we run), I was able to sit down and chat with my friend Dr. Stephanie Langel. She’s a faculty member at Duke University with a Ph.D. in Virology who is teaching and doing research. Specifically, she studies coronaviruses and how they impact animal health and human health. She’s also got an ag background which gives her a unique perspective on zoonoses and COVID-19. We talked in-depth about the basics of what viruses are and how they are different from other things that make us sick, and why coronaviruses are so important to study. It was a deep conversation and gave a detailed picture of why the current pandemic is something farmers are staying aware of with their livestock herds. You can check out the highlights that we posted on the Grounded and Rising blog.

Ultimately, zoonoses often don’t get a lot of attention. But maybe we all need to know more, like we’ve seen with COVID-19, understanding what they are and their impact on livestock and human health, is important in understanding why many farmers work so hard to keep their animals separated from wildlife.

The post Biosecurity or Zoonoses: What it Means to Keeping Livestock & People Healthy appeared first on Grounded by the Farm.

With agritourism on the rise, there has been a lot of diversification of efforts and one niche is agritainment. That’s where the Leonard family found themselves after dealing with the challenges of urban sprawl and rising land prices and we talk with Patty Leonard about it in our latest episode of Grounded by the Farm. And it felt like this episode was a great followup to the recent conversation about farm stays!

Getting to Know the Family & Farm

Patty and her family have a long history of dairy farming. In fact, her grandparents were dairy farming in the area now consumed by Washington DC’s Dulles Airport until plans to build Dulles came together. That led the family to relocate to Warrenton, a small farm town on Virginia’s piedmont. But with the continued growth of the metro area, the Leonards faced rising land prices and looked for ways to diversify years ago.

Patty, who has always loved sharing the farm experience with families, found agritainment offered great potential though her first year fell flat as the country reeled from the 9-11 attacks and the second year found Northern Virginia residents sheltering out of fear of the DC sniper who shot several people in the communities nearby. But Patty and the family were convinced of the potential and kept putting in the work to get it to grow. She kept finding people wanted to know and be more connected to the source of their food. It definitely wasn’t easy, but looking at the farm today, there is a lot of joy going around for visitors and the family too!

Agritainment Brings Agriculture & Entertainment Together

When you talk about agritourism, there are always ways to learn about agriculture. As we talked with Dana, it was clear farm stays offer guests a chance to see and sometimes participate in farm chores, etc. But what Patty and family are doing seeks to be more entertaining while offering the chance to learn. For instance, they have a puppet show on site, but you will also pick up some facts about different protein sources. And she says it never ceases to amaze school groups and families how everyone of all ages enjoys the day at the farm.

Although the arm started with just a few elements focused on dairy & corn (it was even called Cows-n-Corn for years!) fall pumpkin picking and decorating came quickly as did the corn maze. Now they have grown added various seasonal activities for Christmas and Easter as well as a haunted maze for Halloween!  That growth and a shift from dairy farming led them to move locations to a farm they had that was better suited for the traffic agritainment can bring — it’s Maple Tree Farm VA. If you are in the area, you can even get photos with Santa taken on the farm!

Here’s a short video where you will see Patty talking about some of the fun they offer and some shots of my wandering around the farm — I narrowly avoided hundreds of school children!

You can find the transcript for this episode at Patty Leonard Talks Urban Sprawl & Resulting Impacts on a Family Farm (Episode 303 Grounded by the Farm Podcast Transcript)

The post Agritainment Ends Up the Happy Ending to Challenges with Urban Sprawl & Rising Land Prices appeared first on Grounded by the Farm.

Amazing Opportunity

It sounds like the run up to a great bar joke, but – have YOU heard the one about the Irish dairy farmer who went to Kenya to visit The Maasai tribe, to learn about culture, agriculture and life? That’s the experience we talk with Paula Hynes about and it is definitely no laughing matter. It is the focus of the most-recent episode of Grounded By The Farm!

I’ve known the Hynes family for years and one of the most interesting facets of their lives has comes from the time in 2017 that Paula was fortunate enough to spend time with members of The Maasai people. This interaction came to the Hynes family after they’d been awarded The Farmer of the Year title in Ireland, when they were invited thanks to a TV production company who were planning to film a three-part documentary series called “The Hardest Harvest” and definitely wanted women to participate.  The series focused on the transplantation of a fisherman, forester and of course – a dairy farmer which ended up being Paula into remote parts of Africa. (Maybe next time someone can visit Ugandan fish farmer Kaahwa Jean!)

Have you heard of the Maasai tribe? Find out more about them now with these five fascinating facts about the Maasai people.

An interesting note: Paula had never traveled anywhere on her own – nowhere not even around Ireland. Now she was preparing to hurdle towards the cradle of humankind to be in a documentary focusing on farming. Quite the segue from the rich green rolling mounds of tall grass in Ireland to raise  pedigreed holsteins, jerseys and Fleckvieh heifers collect milk to be sure.  Paula says that the choice to go was a “no brainer” but the reality is – there was so much to think about not only before going but after.

The experience was amazing, and came as a complete surprise to Paula.  She laughs saying she had so much to do to get ready that she didn’t have time to  Google what or where she was going and in hindsight, that clearly fostered the choice to go. As a focus in contrast you see – there are no paved roads. There are no bathrooms. There are no showers.

Extreme Drought in Kenya

If all of that wasn’t enough, the area was experiencing one of the most impactful droughts known to Kenyan history at the time. And the culture is very different. Whereas Paula and Peter work as a team of equals, the women of the Maasai tribe are treated much differently/lesser than most can imagine. There is a lot of water to be carried quite a distance and if a structure is to be built, the women will do that too.

And then there’s the wild animals. Hyenas. Elephants, and Zebra, oh my.

The living area was one large community that not only housed the people (men, women and AMAZING children), but all of the farm animals as well. The cows herding there would come into the compound at night to help stave off the likes of the wild animals. As Paula arrived she heard the glorious voices and music being generated by a loving people filled with rich history, culture and tradition as you can see in the video above.

Amazing Welcome, Tough Lessons

The people of the Maasai tribe welcomed Paula outright and gave her opportunities to contribute. Daily activities usually consisted of taking the cows grazing outside the small village (called a Boma) to allow them to feed the best they could inside of the sun-ravaged lands. Their “grass” looked very much like weeds, and 6-7 hours could easily be spent as the villagers guided the cattle to find more plots of grazable food. They provide on-going support for the Maasai rather than being a source of meat.

This video is something we discuss in the episode… Understand it includes sensitive visuals that may upset some, however, it’s an important piece of the story for the Maasai people who depend on cattle but rarely eat beef.

The differences with beautiful rain-fed pastures at home was beyond striking and animal care is vastly different. In Ireland, there are rarely health issues that lead to cattle deaths, but the experience Paula had with cows dying in Kenya struck her hard. In many cases, there were cattle that had to be helped up and even more that just dropped and couldn’t continue on.

When this happened, she realized that the Maasai tribe members knew that those cows – were destined to die. They were left to the elements and animals – which was an extraordinarily hard experience for Paula who understood the Maasai intensely valued the cattle but had so few choices compared to her farm at home. When water and food are in rare supply and can only be given to the cattle that are making a go of it. Sometimes there is no resource that will save them, and there are no tractors with which to lift them back to their feet. There is only time, and the sad, natural course of events to craft another day in Kenya, and that’s it.

A Chance to Prove Herself

The Maasai Chief had established a series of tasks for Paula, but – believe it or not, she didn’t actually meet the Chief for DAYS, until after Paula was already hip-deep in the experience. The morning tasks were given out each day and the Chief would watch from afar to see what Paula was doing to foster the tasks to completion.

The offering of a hunting knife to Paula caused one of the bits of strife during her experience. You see, only Masai tribesMEN are given this tool to do tasks. This was one of the many “firsts” that Paula was honored with during her journey. Another fine first was put in the books as Paul constructed her own mud hut with the women in the boma called a manyetta. She was able to achieve this after being given a machete with which to chop down the lumber to build the small rudimentary structure. Thankfully, these two tasks were able to quell any problems that the men and or women had with her and the rest of the time spent was beyond amazing.

The differences between a sage Kenyan community, and the ways of life on an Irish dairy farm are vast – but never too far to bridge when hope, knowledge, education and legacy are the ingredients swirling in a wonderful once-in-a-lifetime experience. Be sure to listen to this episode of The Grounded By The Farm Podcast to learn more about Paula’s extraordinary life lesson, adventure an be sure to connect with Paula via her Twitter account @paulahynes4 or Instagram at peterpaulahynes.

Ready to learn what Paula’s Maasai-name is and more importantly – what it MEANS? There’s only one way to find out! Listen to THIS EPISODE of Grounded By The Farm!

The post Getting a Whole New Perspective on Farming and on Life — An Irish Dairy Farmer Goes to Kenya! appeared first on Grounded by the Farm.