Hey folks, a treat for today~ a few weeks ago, I posted about being excited to learn that there was a new raw milk dairy near me. The post generated a LOT of discussion, speculation and opinions- more than usual, by far! In retrospect, I realize as some were speculating about the farmer himself, I regret that it didn’t occur to me then, well, why don’t we just ask him?
Art Groeneweg, the owner, happened upon the post, and was watchin’ for me when I pulled up last weekend to buy my milk. We had a great talk, I am endlessly fascinated by the whole subject; from the realities that farming has to change from the “standard way” in order for farmers to keep making a living, to some of his dairy peers thinking he’s gone crazy, to the fact that Art feels his cows are calmer and easier to handle now that they’re not amped up on grain anymore. It’s truly insightful to learn from someone who has a long family history of dairying, who can remember the “old way” it was done, but knows the modern conventions backwards and forwards as well.
Art offered to address some of the comments and questions that came up in the last post. And he promised to answer more questions- but in due time; he’s not a blogging junkie like some of us who read every day!
Since this is clearly a controversial topic, I’ll remind: it’s encouraged to discuss and even disagree, but stick to the subject. Any posts that start leveling insults at people (e.g. well ‘yer stoopid then!) are not ok. Happy reading and debating!
Without further ado, here’s Art Groeneweg:
And now a word from your producer… Hello, my name is Art Groeneweg; I am the owner along with my wife Nancy of “The Art of Milk, LLC”. I have been in the dairy business my whole life. Formerly Hollandia Farms LP, a limited partnership between my father, brother and I. We built new dairy in 1989-90 and grew to 650 cows being milked 3 times a day producing up to 50,000 pounds of milk per day which is about 6,000 gallons. We were Vitamilk shippers for many years, eventually things changed and we had no choice but to become Darigold shippers. We worked hard to produce the best quality milk possible, everything from keeping the cows and stalls as clean as possible to the hygiene in the milking parlor of which was the most difficult because employees like to take short cuts and some of them had developed some bad habits from previous milking employments. The partnership became null and void after dad passed away and I had previously bought my brother out a few years before because he wanted out. So then I began running this place myself with predominantly Hispanic help, then the economy went south, and that’s another whole story…
Anyway, I remember when I was a kid, the cows were pastured as much as possible and they did not get excessive amounts of grain like the commercial and/or corporate dairies of today will feed. When a cow died back then, practically the whole valley knew about it and it was a big deal. Today it has become “Push them for all its worth and oh well… there’s another one to take her place” mentality. Hormone injections are given to cows in order to give more milk, sexed semen used for more heifers, two of the biggest things that helped to take out the smaller farmers through the years. Sex semen is still available, but RbST was finally forbidden to use by Darigold several years ago. I, to this day, have refused to use and have not participated in either. Technology can be good, but has its place.
Farming is hard work. Certain things must happen every day no matter what the weather is doing. A good plan and experience helps to get things done right and in a timely manner. It is a big commitment, with a lot of responsibilities, from the husbandry of all animals to the stewardship of the land and resources to producing products for human consumption. Dairying was beginning to become somewhat meaningless to the point where you felt like you were a slave to the food industry, and we were, and we were trapped, we couldn’t get out of it, and the fun was totally being taken out of it. So I thought, there’s got to be a better way, like back in time when I was a kid, how it used to be, it’s time to go “Back to the basics”.
Back then and through the years people have always stopped by the farm and asked if they could get some raw milk, (once in a while we would give it to them) but rarely would we ever give anyone any raw milk, but we always drank it.
Two and a half years ago my wife and I started educating myself further on raw milk’s properties, the pathogens, pasteurization and its effects and so on and had to wonder… could I produce it and sell it without ever getting anyone sick from consuming the milk in its raw state? I came to the conclusion that if you do everything absolutely right every day you will not get anybody sick from it.
There are many things to do in order to achieve this level of safety. “Cleanliness is next to Godliness”. Having clean cows, pastures, barns, stalls, bedding, modern equipment and facilities is essential. Taking the stress off the cow, God designed the cow as a forage ruminant mammal, forage is what they need; they were not made to digest large amounts of grain, it does create much more milk production but it also creates a lot of stress. This stress creates many health issues; it affects their ability to ruminate properly (generally acidosis), their reproduction (cystic or static), their feet (ulcers or hoof rot) and udders (mastitis). Then there’s the manure, stressed cows have a much higher chance of shedding pathogens in their manure generally driven by the grain factor.
You must have very good hygiene so that you don’t get any manure in the milk, even though stressed cows are more likely to shed pathogens in the manure than stress free cows, you always do the best job you can every time. The State has its requirements that have to be met also. The Washington State Department of Agriculture (WSDA) requires tuberculosis – brucellosis (TB) and Q-fever testing prior to milking for food consumption. I have also had each cow’s individual quarters tested for undesirable bacteria’s and leucocytes otherwise known as somatic cell counts, which are white blood cells of the immune system involved in defending the body against both infectious disease and foreign materials.
The cows teat ends are sprayed with an iodine based product that has about a 15 to 30 second bacteria kill time, each cow is then stripped about 3-4 times and the milk is checked for abnormal color or composition. The cows teats are then wiped off 3 times with 2 microfiber towels and visually inspected to make sure there is no debris, you must take note of the very end of the teat end, that is where the debris can be if not wiped well or properly. Even though it has been neutralized, you don’t want any debris getting in the milk and/or back up into her teat canal by action of the milking machine. If anything looks off, we get a sample from all four quarters and do an on-the-spot California Mastitis Test (CMT) to grade the level of quality, depending on the findings; additional in-house tests can be performed, like swabbing blood agar with the affected quarter’s milk and incubating it for period of time. In this sort of an event, the cow is generally moved to a separate pen. Depending upon the test results, the cow may or may not get treated for her condition, it depends on what it is and the severity of it. Although, I must say, that when the conditions of running a clean show are kept up and low to non-existent stress levels are applied there is really no reason to have unexpected things like this happening. If a problem develops with the cow it’s usually going to be from an injury from slipping and falling from being in heat, horseplay, or spooked, etc.
Chilling the milk right away is the next step to preserve quality, within minutes of being harvested from the cow it is chilled down to 38 degrees and stored until it is time to bottle it. Glass bottles, there’s nothing else like them, transparent and reusable.
The milk house and processing room each have their own purpose and protocols for milk handling, they are separate rooms. As for when it is time to bottle, entry into this area is limited, only authorized personal are allowed and the correct attire is worn for this process. The biggest threat is Listeria, a cold-natured-thriving-pathogen that likes to live in drains.
WSDA comes in once a month to test a washed, empty and capped bottle, and takes a bottle of milk to test. They also check the cooling room and refrigerator temperatures. Every 3 months we have an equipment inspection for cleanliness and operation, the inspector checks the valves, chart recorders and other miscellaneous items. About every 6 months or so water samples are taken to look for coliform in potable well and the chiller/plate cooler.
Everything we do to ensure that we can produce, harvest and process is so intentional, it does take more time and energy (don’t get in a hurry). I am pretty busy but also having a lot more fun now.
We do carry liability insurance in the event that something should go wrong and somebody ends up getting sick. I whole heartedly believe that it will not be needed but we must carry it anyway.
I take great pride in what I do.
Sincerely,
Side notes (also from Art):
I cannot speak for everyone that produces and sells raw milk.
From my observation of what I have seen through the last few years for those producers who have had trouble in which people ended up getting sick, it appeared to me that it was generally related to the conditions in which the animals were being subject to along with the hygiene of harvesting and handling of the milk was improper and/or inadequate.
~~~
Thanks Art for taking the time to share!
The Collie Farm Blog 
November 13, 2012 at 5:59 am
Wow, kudos to Art for a very cool post!
Personally, I’m on the fence about the really enthusiastic health claims you sometimes get about raw milk, but I did drink it as a kid and certainly think it should be legal for consumers to make their own decisions. With that said, I have sometimes felt, reading the pro-raw essays you see here and there, that people are falling into the trap of acting as though pasteurization is just a boondoggle with no purpose, and raw milk is magic, and sanitation is for suckers, “nobody ever gets sick from raw milk, you’re being lied to by Big Milk!”
So I really, really admire Art for discussing so forthrightly all that his dairy is doing to ensure that his consumers can purchase their raw milk with total confidence. Really impressed. I hope your venture succeeds!
November 13, 2012 at 6:39 am
Michelle, which producers have you seen that have had problems? Have you visited any of them personally, or are you relying on press reports?
What information do you have on the havesting and handling of the milk in these producers? Have you seen these troubled producers milking their cows? Which practices of theirs led to the infection of their product?
November 13, 2012 at 6:44 am
What Art said in this article is exactly, precisely, my concern about raw milk:
“…if you do everything absolutely right every day you will not get anybody sick from it. “, Art Gruenwald, art of milk dairy.
I have farm employees, and they make mistakes. Even trusted employees can have a bad day, and no matter how specific the rules, policies or procedures are, employees don’t care as much as the owner.
November 13, 2012 at 7:01 am
Great post! Thanks Michelle, and thanks Art, for the additional info and history. I really appreciate knowing that the cows are less stressed and not pushed to max out production. And as a satisfied regular customer, I can attest to the milk’s quality. It’s great to be able to buy milk directly from the source (and only makes sense, when we all share the same valley). I’d have a dairy animal myself, and I was going to say that this is the next best thing, but it’s actually even better, because I only use a half gallon of milk a week. (Even a dwarf dairy goat gives more milk than I can use.)
It always gives me a small thrill when I pick up my weekly bottle and the cap has that day’s date ( milked that morning), or when Art’s daughter tells me the bottles JUST came in.
Grass fed, raw, and LOCAL! It doesn’t get any better than this (except if Cherry Valley Dairy started selling raw – then I could walk over and get it when I went down to my mailbox). 🙂
November 13, 2012 at 1:35 pm
Art! Thank you so much for writing this letter, one of the most realistic, level-headed articles I have ever read on the subject. I really appreciate your insight, and your commitment to quality. Also I appreciate your knowledge on the inherent risks of raw milk and what you are doing to limit those risks. Keep up the good work, I am really impressed.
When it comes to the raw milk debate, I definitely see a lot of what Cordy says in most articles. That raw milk has magical properties and pasteurized has bad stuff. All it is is heating up the milk to kill pathogens, and in the process some of the milk’s proteins are altered in shape. Whether or not this causes an effect on people is really not known.
When people ask me about raw milk (as a dairy science student, and a veterinary student, and a person) I say this: “You can have good quality milk without it being raw. Buy milk that is produced by grass-fed dairies, animal welfare approved dairies. You will increase quality of life for the animals, and reap the benefits of increased omega threes. If you want raw milk, find out everything about the farm you possibly can. Get a hold of bacterial plate counts and all the testing information. Talk to the farmer about milking routine (look for all the things Art does). Talk to the WSDA about the farms you are contemplating buying from. Additionally, I would REALLY hesitate giving raw milk to anyone immune compromised (like children).”
But if you are going to drink raw milk, this is the way to do it. 🙂 Thanks for the post!
November 13, 2012 at 3:06 pm
Really interesting article, which brought back memories of my grandfather’s herd of 60 dairy cows on his English hill farm. In England, you see cows in the fields eating grass, not in large barns eating grain. A much better life for the cows and those who drink their milk.
November 14, 2012 at 4:06 am
Bruce, I guess I don’t know where your questions are coming from- I haven’t brought up producers who have problems, it’s not really my focus. I like to drink raw milk, I’m not really worried about it. But I also gamble on burgers cooked by teenagers in crappy restaurants, and I actually try not to wash my hands too much. I subscribe to the theory that if you keep your challenge load high, your immune response is better than by constantly trying to protect yourself from exposure to any and all pathogens. And it seems to work for me, I survived e. coli no worse for wear, and rarely get sick. But it’s not for everybody. I’m not telling anybody else they should drink raw milk, and I feel like I need anybody else telling me I shouldn’t.
November 15, 2012 at 1:49 am
Children aren’t immune-compromised by default, unless you mean infants under a year old, and that’s not ‘immune-compromised’ but ‘not big kids yet’.
Other countries have raw milk available for sale in grocery stores. Over-industrial approaches in American farming seem to me to be more of a problem with raw milk being a viable option than the rawness of the milk.
November 15, 2012 at 2:46 am
Great post. It’s exciting to see more farmers like Art producing quality dairy products. This is how small communities and small farms will survive, keeping money in the local community. Any dairy product raw or not needs proper handling techniques, I believe individuals should be able to decide if they prefer buying from a farmer or pasteurized from the store.
November 16, 2012 at 5:07 pm
CF, many of your readers have overlooked the essential issue here, especially as the holidays are fast approaching: does Art of Milk sell eggnog?? By the way, in our garage, all covered with dust and spider scat, is an old, thick glass milk bottle, a vestigial from the days of Walt’s Milk Barn. Now Walt’s was some GOOD eggnog! TMJ
November 16, 2012 at 9:10 pm
TMJ- I hope he does! 🙂 I remember the milk from Walt’s too, and their ice cream was SO good! They were on our way home from town, so we always bought our dairy products there.
November 17, 2012 at 2:40 am
CF, Lord Hill Farms was the site of our daughter’s wedding. Here’s a quote from the father-of-the-bride’s wedding toast: “It seems strange to conduct a wedding where we used to buy our milk and holiday eggnog in thick glass bottles before the cows went to plastic. But I guess if you can be born in a barn, there’s no reason you can’t be married in one.” Let me know about the eggnog. TMJ
November 17, 2012 at 5:39 am
Michelle, my questions were in response to this paragraph in your post:
“…from my observation of what
I have seen through the last few years for
those producers who have had trouble in which people ended
up getting sick, it appeared to me that it was generally
related to the conditions in which the animals were being subject
to along with the hygiene of harvesting and handling of the milk
was improper and/or inadequate. ”
I don’t think that you have observed any producers that have had problems, nor do I think that you know what the conditions at those producers were, and I don’t think that you have any idea what the hygiene or handling of the milk was. Much in the same way that you’ve never been in the milking parlor at art of milk. Can you really say that art of milk is better than the practices somewhere else? I sure cannot.
You’re clearly a fan of raw milk, and I get that. I don’t recall anyone saying that you shouldn’t be drinking anything you want.
But raw milk is different than your hamburger, to me. I can look at a hamburger and make a pretty good guess as to whether it has been cooked adequately. With raw milk the contaminated stuff looks exactly like the good stuff.
So my solution is to raise my own cow because I do have an end-to-end experience, and I trust the milker. I’m not against drinking raw milk. I’m against folks taking the word of the producers because they’d like to believe.
lets use an example from another region. Organic Pastures is a 500 cow raw milk dairy in california. Do a google search on them.
http://www.foodsafetynews.com/2012/09/organic-pastures-faces-another-recall-quarantine/
They are very vocal about their practices and how clean they are, too.
November 17, 2012 at 8:56 pm
Bruce-oh, I see what you mean. That last paragraph was actually part of Art’s letter, sort of a postscript, but that wasn’t very clear. I edited the post to make it more obvious. So, your questions would have to be directed to Art.
Re: hamburger though, I wouldn’t be so sure. Maybe hamburgers themselves, where you could cut them in half before you eat them and look to see if they are pink inside (but do many people actually do that?). The problem is, hamburger in other things, like tacos, is less obvious if there is a tiny bit in there that’s under-cooked. And restaurants where these things are combined in the same handling system (e.g. bins on a steam table), e. coli can get spread to even non-meat things via utensils and surfaces. That’s actually how I got e. coli, was from refried beans in burritos-I hadn’t eaten burger there in weeks. And I believe this was true of others who got stick there- not all of them ate the burger, but the statistics of incidence clearly pointed at our restaurant. Presumably the same spoon got used between the hamburger bin and the bean bin…
November 30, 2012 at 4:10 pm
I would think the lettuce would be suspect in your E. coli episode given what you have said.
November 30, 2012 at 4:26 pm
Cathylee, I think the health department was pretty certain that beef was the source, triangulating based on what all the people ate who got sick (e.g. burritos there don’t have lettuce in them, or any fresh vegetable- only beef or beans, cheese and enchilada sauce). The beef we got from a local processor was fresh, very bloody and messy, in open-ended bags, and hard to manage. We did due diligence with everything; but even at “good” restaurants, these things can happen.
April 1, 2013 at 7:02 pm
Sooo when did pasteurization begin?? I’d rather have raw any day as it seems to me it was that way from the BEGINING. Many years ago an old fella who worked for a big dairy company told me how dirly and sloppy they could get away with because, oh well, it will just get pasturized and cleaned up. I much prefer local and someone who takes their trade seriously enough to produce the best quality that they can! I truly believe raw is better and the way our bodies were intended to have it. It must take a very faithful hard working bunch of people to bring this wonderful food to us. I’m interested in their raw cream….yum! I’m not suggesting everyone can be so thoughtless as to not do their best job….unfortunately, though, there actually are some people…I am thankful for the ones that care to do their best.
April 1, 2013 at 8:18 pm
Lynda, I don’t know when pasteurization of milk became commonplace, though Wiki suggests that the concept has been around since the 1800’s, and was used originally to increase shelf life, not so much to reduce pathogens. There certainly is a long history of humans drinking raw milk, and clearly it didn’t succeed in killing the majority of us! 🙂 But, there is still a lot of evidence that historically, people did die of milk-born illnesses, like TB. But a lot has changed in the last 100 years, reliable refrigeration, for one; and better knowledge & methods of keeping processing clean. And, a lot more surveillance is done on cows to test for these kinds of zoonotic diseases, and eliminate the problem at the source; rather than rely on pasteurizing to overcome any bad practices found in the earlier steps of husbandry, collection and processing. I think every person just has to decide for themselves what the risk-benefit ratio may be.