Cowshare Programs: Frequently Asked Questions
themodernhomestead.us wrote this FAQ and then re-wrote it in “generic” form, then the Weston A. Price Foundation posted it on their “campaign for real milk” site. It is available both there and here to inform readers about cowshares and how they work; and may be used and adapted freely in cowshare programs.
We edited the original text to reflect our practices here at wild thing organics, and are grateful to the authors for generously sharing their work with the raw milk community.
WILD THING ORGANICS COWSHARE FAQ SHEET
In an attempt to answer most of the questions you might have about your
cowshare at wild thing organics and about the uses of high quality raw milk,
we are providing this sheet of frequently asked questions. Please let
us know if you need more information.
1. How is the cowshare with wild thing organics set up?
2. Are cowshares legal?
3. How are the cows milked at wild thing organics?
4. Is the milk ever tested for e. coli or other bacteria?
5. How should I handle the milk from my cow?
6. How long will raw milk keep?
7. How can I tell if raw milk is spoiled?
8. What should I do if the milk smells bad after only a couple
of days?
9. What should I do with milk that is more than a week old?
10. Why does a large layer of cream form on top of the milk?
11. Can I use the cream separately?
12. Can I make my own butter from the cream?
13. Are there other ways to use raw milk?
14. What happens in the milk during the culturing process;
and why should I bother?
15. Can the milk be frozen?
16. Why is the milk so yellow?
17. Can the milk be pasteurized on the stove top?
18. Tell us more about our cows at wild thing organics!
19. Are the cows tested for disease?
20. Are the cows ever treated for worms?
21. What do the cows eat?
22. How much milk do the cows give?
23. What is done with the extra milk not needed for the
cowshare program?
24. Will the births of the calves have an impact on milk
supply available to cowshare owners?
25. What will happen to the calves?
26. As a cowshare owner, will I have a share in the calves?
27. What are good sources for more information about raw
milk and its uses?
28. What are sources for milk cultures?
29. Can I visit my cows?
30. ALLERGY ALERT Please read!
1. How is the cowshare with wild thing organics set up?
You make a one-time payment of $50 to buy a share in wild thing's cows. From that point on you actually own an undivided share of those cows. In addition, you pay a boarding fee quarterly for the feeding and care of your cows. Your share entitles you to approximately 4 litres of milk each week. Note: share ownership is NOT transferable. It can be returned to wild thing organics during the life of the share for a partial refund.
2. Are cowshares legal?
Yes, they are. It is not legal in Canada to sell, trade or give away raw (unpasteurized) milk to the public. However, you may use as much raw milk as you wish from your own cow. Since you own a share in wild thing's cows, you may legally use the milk from your share in any way you see fit. During the past few years, several cowshare programs have been implemented in Canada, and have been functioning well.
wild thing organics has consulted with its lawyer in setting up its cowshare program. (You will be asked to sign a contract for your cowshare at the time of its purchase.)
3. How are the cows milked at wild thing organics?
The cows are milked in the dairy barn after the goats, at 8:00 a.m. and at 8:00 p.m. Please note that the cows are milked with a separate machine from the goats; and that their milk is kept separate from the goats' milk. The cows are milked using a closed-bucket system. That is, the milk is drawn from the cow's udder using a suction device and a set of tubes that empty the milk into a sealed stainless steel container. Since there is no exposure to air at any point, the most scrupulous level of sanitation is assured.
4. Will the milk ever be tested for e. coli or other bacteria?
Yes, the milk will be periodically tested. Organic apple cider vinegar is used in the cows' and goats' water as an e. coli preventive compound.
5. How should I handle the milk from my cow?
The shareholders' milk will be raw -- that is, it is not heat-treated (pasteurized) or homogenized. For milk that is picked up at the farm: It will be chilled; and you should take care that it remains so until you can get it home and into your refrigerator. If you have some distance to drive or stops to make before you arrive home, it is imperative that you make provision with insulated containers and ice or chillers to keep the milk at refrigerator temperature until you return home. Shipped milk will have freezer packs placed in the box to maintain its temperature. If the milk is still frozen hard upon arrival, place jug on a paper towel on the counter and let thaw at room temperature for 8-12 hours, and then place in refrigerator to finish thawing.
6. How long will raw milk keep?
If you handle as above, the milk will easily keep a week with no change at all in quality. Indeed, we have kept raw milk in the refrigerator for as long as 2 weeks, and it was still sweet and good. It is very good practice to date your milk as soon as it is received.
7. How can I tell if raw milk is spoiled?
Most of us grew up with pasteurized milk; and thus are not familiar with the pleasant sour or tangy tastes and smells that develop in cultured dairy products. As you experiment with such cultured milk foods you will come to appreciate those new smells and tastes. (More about that below.) When milk is actually spoiled, however, it will smell quite unpleasant. Discard the milk if it has developed an unpleasant smell.
8. What should I do if the milk smells bad after only a couple of days?
Discard it. Please let us know right away, and we will investigate and see if anyone else experienced the same problem.
9. What should I do with milk that is more than a week old?
As long as the milk still smells and tastes sweet and good to you, it is fine to use it. However, you will be getting milk each week. So, if you find you consistently have extra milk, try making some of the fine cultured milk and cream products from it. For example, when you get your milk home you could refrigerate two litres for drinking as "sweet milk;" and skim the cream off the rest for making butter. The milk that has been skimmed (nothing at all like commercial "skim milk") could then be used to make cultured milk products such as clabber, kefir, etc. (See below.) And remember, your pets will enjoy and benefit from any leftovers!
10. Why does a large layer of cream form on top of the milk?
The shareholders' milk is not only raw (unpasteurized); it is not homogenized. That is, the butterfat has not been emulsified to force it to remain in solution. Therefore this butterfat, or cream -- being lighter than the other liquid components of the milk -- rises to the top. Wild thing's cows are Jerseys, whose milk is unusually rich in butterfat. For drinking or cooking with the whole milk, you should shake the container well before pouring, so that the cream is again dispersed into the milk.
11. Can I use the cream separately?
Yes, you can. It is very easy, after the milk has sat overnight in the refrigerator, to skim off most of the cream. The remaining milk is nothing like the "skim milk" you would buy in the supermarket: It is still a rich, full-bodied milk for drinking, cooking, or even making fresh cheeses. (More below.) The cream you have taken off can be whipped for dessert toppings or cultured for sour cream.
12. Can I make my own butter from the cream?
It is easy to make your own butter from the cream, using appliances you probably already have in your kitchen. Note that you can make your butter either from the sweet or the cultured cream. See which flavor you and your family prefer! Please note that it takes about 6 litres (this can vary) of cream to obtain a pound (approx. 450 grams) of butter, so if you only have a small amount of cream, you might prefer to reserve it for another use.
13. Are there other ways to use raw milk?
As mentioned above, you should keep your milk refrigerated for normal beverage and cooking use. However, if you wish to experiment with the many forms of cultured milk and farm cheeses, it is easy to do so with raw milk (unlike pasteurized milk). For example, you can allow the milk to come to room temperature and simply sit overnight or longer until it partially solidifies like yogurt and develops a pleasant sour smell. When you culture the milk naturally this way it is called "clabber," and may be used just like yogurt. If you strain the whey (liquid) away from the solid portion using cheesecloth and add a little salt to the resulting "curd," you will have a tasty, incredibly easy-to-make fresh cheese. Cultures are also available for stirring into the milk to make other versions of cultured milk, such as kefir. Once your batch of cultured milk has reached the desired stage (more or less solid, more or less tangy -- depending on ambient temperature and the time it has sat out), you should then return it to the refrigerator in order to prolong the time during which it can be used.
14. What happens in the milk during the culturing process; and why should I bother?
There are benign, even beneficial bacteria in whole, natural milk. When these bacteria are able to multiply -- as in milk which is allowed to sit at room temperature for awhile -- they colonize the entire medium (the milk) and make it inhospitable to decay organisms, effectively preserving it from spoilage for several days or weeks. Some of those bacteria will continue to live in the gastrointestinal tract when consumed, boosting the multitude of intestinal bacteria, and contributing to more efficient digestion and elimination. Also, the bacteria active in milk cultures help break down or pre-digest both milk sugar (lactose) and milk protein (casein), making these components easier to digest. Indeed, some individuals with an intolerance of milk are able to digest cultured milks with no problem. Please note that traditional dairying cultures the world over have used various culturing techniques to make milk foods for thousands of years, long before mechanical refrigeration or pasteurization were ever dreamed of.
15. Can the milk be frozen?
Yes, but the butterfat from raw milk will separate out as grainy flakes and will not fully blend in again when thawed. It may be used for some cooking purposes, however. And it will still taste good.
16. Why is the milk so yellow?
Cows eating high-quality hay or fresh pasture grasses will give milk with a high beta carotene content. The beta carotene gives a slightly yellow color to the cream. As spring comes on and the grass grows more lush and green, the milk takes on an even richer color. You should know that cows eating a lot of high-quality forage give milk that is higher in vitamin A, CLA, and other fat-soluble nutrients, unlike their confinement-dairy cousins. You may have noticed that goat's milk, even though the goats forage on the same pasture, is much whiter than cow's milk. This is because goats are far more efficient at converting beta carotene to vitamin A.
17. Can the milk be pasteurized on the stove top?
You can pasteurize your own milk if you wish. For example, the milk can be heated to 145 degrees Fahrenheit (62.7 Celsius) and held at that temperature for 30 minutes. However, we cannot give a detailed prescription for the process here; and urge you to consult a reliable source of information on the subject. (E.g., The Joy of Cooking, by Rombauer and Becker; and The New Putting Food By, by Hertzberg, Vaughan and Greene. Both sources suffer from common misapprehensions about pasteurization and milk safety.) It is important to stress that pasteurization should not be done in a haphazard way. You should use a good thermometer and monitor the process precisely. However, there are many advantages to using milk raw, both nutritionally and in terms of its versatility, referred to above. Given the care wild thing organics takes for the health of its cows and the scrupulous hygiene of its milk, we feel you can be confident in using this high-quality milk just as it comes from the cow.
18. Tell us more about our cows at wild thing organics!
The cows (Suzy and Elly) are purebred Jerseys, an old-fashioned breed known for excellent milk with high butterfat content. The cows spend their days together with the goats and chickens on a large pasture with plenty of excellent grazing. We practice rotational grazing here, to keep our cows on the freshest pasture possible throughout the growing season. Only the best quality hay is used in the winter months.
19. Are the cows tested for disease?
Yes, our cows have been tested for TB (tuberculosis), brucellosis, and Johne's disease.
20. Are the cows ever treated for worms?
If necessary, yes. We will use Diatomaceous Earth as a preventive measure.
21. What do the cows eat?
The most important part of their diet is the pasture grass they graze on all day; and in the winter, high-quality alfalfa hay is used. High-quality forage produces the very best milk. Note that the pastures here are not fertilized with sludge, or any chemical fertilizer. No pesticides or herbicides are used on this property. While being milked, the cows may receive a treat of alfalfa cubes with a little kelp for extra iodine and trace minerals. They also receive a mineral supplement free choice (available at all times).
22. How much milk do the cows give?
In contrast to soy-, grain- and hormone-fuelled, commercial dairy breeds, Jersey cows give a smaller amount of milk which is higher in butterfat. The shareholders' cows give about three gallons at each milking, depending on their stage of lactation. Please note that milk production varies with the season, the weather, the quality of the forage available; and the normal curve of the cow's lactation cycle.
23. What is done with the extra milk not needed for the cowshare program?
We are experimenting with fresh and aged cheeses, ice cream and other dairy products to offer as alternative share options for our shareholders in the future.
24. Will the births of the calves have an impact on milk supply available to cowshare owners?
Yes, they might; and a shareholder should keep this in mind as we approach calving. During the final months of a cow's pregnancy, she should be allowed to be "dry" (not being milked) because she is putting so much of her body's resources into the growing calf. Also, after the birth, the calf will be nursing on its mother until it is weaned. Pregnancies are spaced at scheduled intervals through the year to try to maintain a consistent supply of milk for our shareholders. We will do our very best to maintain this schedule, and ask your understanding and cooperation if things go askew.
25. What will happen to the calves?
That depends on the gender of the calf. Bull (male) calves will be raised for meat. Heifer (female) calves will be kept as replacement cows or to be sold to others seeking good Jersey cows.
26. As a cowshare owner, will I have a share in the calves?
No, the ownership of all calves born to the cows will revert to wild thing organics.
27. What are good sources for more information about raw milk and its uses?
We give our highest possible recommendation to the book Nourishing Traditions, written by Sally Fallon of the Weston A. Price Foundation. This book goes well beyond the conventional cookbook. It is a comprehensive compendium of information about food and health issues, with a focus on the whole, natural foods emphasized by traditional cultures throughout history. It is a book that may revolutionize all your thinking about diet and health. There are two chapters of particular note to those interested in or starting to use whole, natural milk: "Milk and Milk Products" and "Cultured Dairy Products," with guidance and recipes for making many of the cultured milk products mentioned above. The Untold Story of Milk, by Ron Schmid, is also highly recommended. Our own reading of this book revealed that almost all of what we thought we "knew" about the history of and the "need" for pasteurization was completely inaccurate. Chapters reassessing our ideas about milk as a vector for the transmission of disease; the nutritional qualities of raw milk as opposed to heat-treated milk; and the results of the industrialization of the dairy process -- all are essential reading.
28. What are sources for milk cultures?
G.E.M. Cultures: www.gemcultures.com Lehmans: www.lehmans.com Hoeggers: www.hoeggergoatsupply.com New England Cheesemaking Supply: www.cheesemaking.com Body Ecology: www.bodyecologydiet.com Dairy Connection: www.dairyconnection.com
The above resources are located in the U.S. If you are close to the border, as we are, you can arrange to have the cultures shipped to a U.S. address (we use Mack's duty-free shop) and simply bring them into Canada. If you're not close enough to the border for this to be viable, we've discovered a source in Canada: www.glengarrycheesemaking.on.ca
If you need more information about the cowshare program, or advice or guidance in using your milk for a variety of wonderful dairy foods, please contact us at shares@wildthingorganics.com
29. Can I visit my cows?
Yes, of course! We do ask that you contact us and pre-schedule a visit to ensure that we will be here to meet you and provide access. Please note that we practice biosecurity measures here at wild thing. And while that sounds very men-in-HAZMAT-suits turning giant hoses on you at the gate, fear not. Given the potential transfer of pathogens from one farm or other source of animals to another, we must ensure that any visitor not track in any soil, manure or debris from other operations, etc. Steps such as these will help to maintain the continued good health of your animals.
30. ALLERGY ALERT Please read!
If you or someone in your household is prone to allergies, please note that our kitchen is not gluten-free, and that we grind various nuts as well. Microscopic, airborne particles beyond our control could conceivably enter into the equation while milk is being separated or bottled. The moisturizing balm we use on the cows at milking time consists of: virgin coconut oil; unrefined cocoa butter, pure aloe vera gel; extra virgin olive oil. It is unlikely that these ingredients will cause a problem, but please contact us if you have a known sensitivity to any of the above. We make the cow balm ourselves, with all-organic ingredients and no solvents or chemical cocktails of any kind. It helps to keep the cows' teats smooth, soft and free of chapping. The girls really appreciate this blend, especially in winter!