All About How Now
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Sadly no. Neither do Biodynamic milks. We are the only farm in Australia that keeps calves on the cows and shares the milk.
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Kind milk is made with cow and calf as the priority. We don’t kill baby (bobby) calves to produce our milk, we value all life. Calves are not separated from their mothers, keeping loved ones close. Our cows are hormone and antibiotic free, kinder for them and for you.
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How Now is about asking “How Now” should we farm? Does economics win over ethics and compassion? We believe that one does not need to come at the expense of the other.
It strikes us that if we blend the right mix of old fashioned animal husbandry with great science and modern technology, dairy farming can very much be conducted on the cows’ terms. We have had hundreds and hundreds of conversations with other people who care equally about animals and the lot of the dairy cow. How Now is for that kindred spirit, and providing them with the chance to make choices that sit comfortably.
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We accept payments from major credit card companies like Visa, Mastercard, and American Express.
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We have just 1 farm in Numurkah, north of Victoria that houses our 48 girls. It's a single family owned and operated business, and we hope to sign on more farms with the same values as they arise.
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We are proudly small and independent, and connected to our local communities and intend to stay that way. We will never be a part of big manufacturing: our farms will never be the big cold-hearted production systems some dairy farms have become. We are going back to basics in one way, but looking to the future in another.
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It’s a misconception that a calf can drink all the milk her mum produces. In reality, a mother cow produces much more milk (13-16 litres) than a baby can drink a day (3-4 litres), and if that extra milk is not released, aside from being extremely uncomfortable, the udders can get infected.
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We usually start weaning around the 3 month period, when a calf can start gorging which isn’t good for them. Over a further 3 month period we extend the time the calf spends away from its mum.
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We have recently updated our packaging to say “consume within 5 days of opening”. This is because as an unadulterated product, with cream on top, oxidisation will continue. Especially with the cream rising to the top and the amount of cream we have. The surface area has air getting to it, which can sour the milk.
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We don’t often have male calves as we use Artificial Insemination, which allows us to select the gender of the calf.
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No, we do extended lactation with our cows, so unlike traditional dairy, we don’t put cows back in calf immediately. Instead they enjoy their time with their calf and when the calf is fully weaned we give mum a few months to just relax and take stress off her body, then we will put her in calf again.
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Many of the calves will be joining our herd to become the next generation of dairy cows. If we have excess we also do ethical beef, where the animals are slaughtered on our farm.
All About Ethical Milk
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Cows are sentient beings and as such, humans can push them around without too much fear. Lactating is what a mammal does when it has offspring. Because the calves are removed and the mothers are immediately milked, this keeps the flow of milk going. Yes, they most definitely grieve their calf that disappears. I have heard many stories of bellowing cows going on for weeks on end trying to locate their calf. It is also how we know.
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No, this is a story that the regulating bodies (Dairy Australia) tell everyone to be able to keep farmers removing calves at birth.
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Good question! Whilst a lot of farms say their cows are grass fed, they are still allowed to use a percentage of dry food (hay) to supplement the cows diet. On our farm, we use our own pasture hay (which is just dried grass) for the winter months when nothing grows. This ensures our cows are well fed, but maintains our closed loop.
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Yes, our cows have wonderful trees in most of the paddocks. The ones that don’t have ample shade we avoid on hot days.
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Yes we agree, a sick cow should be given treatment. We just find we rarely need to use antibiotics as their health is so good and they aren’t under stress like normal dairy cows.