Happy Cow Creamery is a family-owned dairy farm in Pelzer, South Carolina that bottles and sells its own milk on site from the farm's closed herd of grass-fed Holstein cattle. The creamery's whole milk, buttermilk and chocolate milk is sold in the farm's on-site store and through grocery, convenience and country stores in Upstate region of South Carolina. The milk is not homogenized and is low-temperature pasteurized and inspected by the State of South Carolina. [1]
The dairy is noted for owner Tom Trantham's system of rotating pasture feeding dubbed 12 Aprils. [2] For this innovation, Trantham was awarded the first Patrick Madden Award for Sustainable Agriculture in 2002 by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service (CSREES). [3]
Trantham developed a grass pasturing method modeled after traditional paddock systems common in Ireland. With a USDA grant obtained through Clemson University, Trantham worked with Clemson Animal, Dairy and Veterinary Science Department researchers Jean Bertrand and Fred Pardue, who examined the feasibility of year-round dairy grazing. [4]
The approximately 80 head milking herd is rotated through 29 paddocks of 2.5 to 3.5 acres (14,000 m2), feeding on a different paddock each day. By the end of the cycle, the first paddock has re-grown and the herd cycles through again. [5] The herd also receives supplemental feeding in the form of high-energy pellets and hay at milking time. Organic fertilizer is used on the pasture and no injected rBGH is used to treat milk cows. However, Trantham has not sought official organic certification.
Before perfecting the grass-fed pasture system, Trantham operated as a traditional, high-volume dairy relying on chemical fertilizers and heavy grain feeding. Despite state awards for milk production, Trantham's farm was losing money and he was facing bankruptcy. When the milking herd one day pushed out of its feedlot into a neighboring field of weeds awaiting planting, milk production immediately increased. Trantham allowed the herd to graze again and observed that the cows only ate the top half of the lush, virgin weed pasture. [6] Further research by Trantham showed this top half contained most of the nutrients of the plant. It is from this chance encounter that Trantham researched and developed the "12 Aprils" grass-feeding system.
Happy Cow Creamery milk is not homogenized and is pasteurized with a low-temperature "batch pasteurization" process that is reported to kill harmful bacteria while preserving vitamins and helpful enzymes. The dairy is inspected by the State of South Carolina. The milk is not raw, although raw milk is legal to sell in South Carolina from the farm or small stores.
Meat and dairy products from grass-fed animals can produce 300-500% more conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) than those of cattle fed the usual diet of 50% hay and silage, and 50% grain. [7] A fatty acid profile on Happy Cow milk was performed by Utah State University, which found the milk contains up to four times the CLA of traditional store-bought milk and almost twice as much CLA as Organic Pastures Dairy Co., a popular raw milk producer in California. The CLA was 1.2 percent of the fat composition, according to the test. [8]
Happy Cow Creamery distributes whole milk, chocolate milk and buttermilk to grocery and convenience stores and small markets in Upstate South Carolina including:
The Happy Cow Creamery farm store is a Certified Roadside Market by the State of South Carolina. In addition to its own milk, the store sells butter, cheeses, pasture eggs, natural meats and ice cream. Jellies, breads, coffee and other locally produced grocery items are offered as well. Produce grown on the farm or from neighboring local farms is offered when in season.
The store offers frozen, locally grown meats from small farms including:
A calf is a young domestic cattle. Calves are reared to become adult cattle or are slaughtered for their meat, called veal, and hide.
Milk is a white, nutrient-rich liquid food produced in the mammary glands of mammals. It is the primary source of nutrition for infant mammals before they are able to digest other types of food. Early-lactation milk contains colostrum, which carries the mother's antibodies to its young and can reduce the risk of many diseases. It contains many other nutrients including protein and lactose. Interspecies consumption of milk is not uncommon, particularly among humans, many of whom consume the milk of other mammals.
Veal is the meat of calves, in contrast to the beef from older cattle. Veal can be produced from a calf of either sex and any breed; however, most veal comes from young males of dairy breeds which are not used for breeding. Generally, veal is more expensive than beef from older cattle. Veal production is a way to add value to dairy bull calves and to utilize whey solids, a byproduct from the manufacturing of cheese.
A dairy is a business enterprise established for the harvesting or processing of animal milk – mostly from cows or buffaloes, but also from goats, sheep, horses, or camels – for human consumption. A dairy is typically located on a dedicated dairy farm or in a section of a multi-purpose farm that is concerned with the harvesting of milk.
In agriculture, rotational grazing, as opposed to continuous grazing, describes many systems of pasturing, whereby livestock are moved to portions of the pasture, called paddocks, while the other portions rest. Each paddock must provide all the needs of the livestock, such as food, water and sometimes shade and shelter. The approach often produces lower outputs than more intensive animal farming operations, but requires lower inputs, and therefore sometimes produces higher net farm income per animal.
Holstein Friesians are a breed of dairy cattle originating from the Dutch provinces of North Holland and Friesland, and Schleswig-Holstein in Northern Germany. They are known as the world's highest-production dairy animals.
Dairy farming is a class of agriculture for long-term production of milk, which is processed for eventual sale of a dairy product.
Dairy cattle are cattle cows bred for the ability to produce large quantities of milk, from which dairy products are made. Dairy cows generally are of the species Bos taurus.
There are different systems of feeding cattle in animal husbandry, which may have different advantages and disadvantages. Most cattle in the US have a fodder that is composed of at least some forage. In fact, most beef cattle are raised on pasture from birth in the spring until autumn. For pastured animals, grass is usually the forage that composes the majority of their diet. Cattle reared in feedlots are fed hay supplemented with grain, soy and other ingredients in order to increase the energy density of the feed. The debate is whether cattle should be raised on fodder primarily composed of grass or a concentrate. The issue is complicated by the political interests and confusion between labels such as "free range", "organic", or "natural". Cattle raised on a primarily foraged diet are termed grass-fed or pasture-raised; for example meat or milk may be called grass-fed beef or pasture-raised dairy. The term "pasture-raised" can lead to confusion with the term "free range", which does not describe exactly what the animals eat.
Free range denotes a method of farming husbandry where the animals, for at least part of the day, can roam freely outdoors, rather than being confined in an enclosure for 24 hours each day. On many farms, the outdoors ranging area is fenced, thereby technically making this an enclosure, however, free range systems usually offer the opportunity for the extensive locomotion and sunlight that is otherwise prevented by indoor housing systems. Free range may apply to meat, eggs or dairy farming.
Braum's is an American family-owned restaurant chain based in Tuttle, Oklahoma.
Beef cattle are cattle raised for meat production. The meat of mature or almost mature cattle is mostly known as beef. In beef production there are three main stages: cow-calf operations, backgrounding, and feedlot operations. The production cycle of the animals start at cow-calf operations; this operation is designed specifically to breed cows for their offspring. From here the calves are backgrounded for a feedlot. Animals grown specifically for the feedlot are known as feeder cattle, the goal of these animals is fattening. Animals not grown for a feedlot are typically female and are commonly known as replacement heifers. While the principal use of beef cattle is meat production, other uses include leather, and beef by-products used in candy, shampoo, cosmetics, insulin and inhalers.
Vaccenic acid is a naturally occurring trans fatty acid. It is the predominant kind of trans-fatty acid found in human milk, in the fat of ruminants, and in dairy products such as milk, butter, and yogurt. Trans fat in human milk may depend on trans fat content in food.
The United States raw milk debate concerns issues of food safety and claimed health benefits of raw milk, and whether authorities responsible for regulating food safety should prohibit sale of raw milk for consumption.
The domestic goat or simply goat is a subspecies of C. aegagrus domesticated from the wild goat of Southwest Asia and Eastern Europe. The goat is a member of the animal family Bovidae and the subfamily Caprinae, meaning it is closely related to the sheep. There are over 300 distinct breeds of goat. Goats are one of the oldest domesticated species of animal, and have been used for milk, meat, fur and skins across much of the world. Milk from goats is often turned into goat cheese.
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Farmageddon: The True Cost of Cheap Meat is a 2014 non-fiction book by Philip Lymbery and Isabel Oakeshott. It surveys the effects of industrial livestock production and industrial fish farming around the world. The book is the result of Lymbery's investigations for which he travelled the world over three years. Isabel Oakeshott is the political editor of The Sunday Times, Philip Lymbery is CEO of Compassion in World Farming. The book was published by Bloomsbury.
Agriculture in Wales has in the past been a major part of the economy of Wales, a largely rural country that forms part of the United Kingdom. Wales is mountainous and has a mild, wet climate. This results in only a small proportion of the land area being suitable for arable cropping, but grass for the grazing of livestock is present in abundance. As a proportion of the national economy, the importance of agriculture has become much reduced; a high proportion of the population now live in the towns and cities in the south of the country and tourism has become an important form of income in the countryside and on the coast. Arable cropping is limited to the flatter parts and elsewhere dairying and livestock farming predominate.
A pasture wedge graph or feed wedge is a farm management tool used by dairy farmers for the purposes of managing pasture. It takes the form of a bar graph, that shows the amount of feed available in a pasture over time, and is therefore shaped as a declining wedge.
Coordinates: 34°36′49″N82°21′11″W / 34.613661°N 82.353069°W