We have a small dairy and currently milk 1 cow (Blossom) and 3 goats (Peanut, Missy & Inty).  Between the four of them, we get about 6 gallons of milk each day (4 from Blossom and 2 from the goats).

We also have young animals that will begin producing for us as they deliver their kids and calves.

This is Creamy, Blossom’s daughter,

and Barli and Swanli, Missy’s daughters from 2007.

Blossom

Peanut and Mr. Spock 

Missy

Inty

History
Milk has been an important part of the human diet for centuries.  References date back in many religions, including Judeo-Christianity to the “land of milk and honey”.  Here at Sunshine Farms, we are offering our milk for sale raw.  Raw milk has not been pasteurized or homogenized. 
The regulatory pasteurization of milk started in the early 1900’s as a result of swill dairies offering unhealthy milk in New York.  The milk at these dairies was truly unhealthy, as the cows did not get enough nutrition to maintain their own health.  They were fed the waste produced from alcohol manufacturing (swill).   These cows were also kept in confinement, not allowed to move more than a few feet unless they were being milked, then they were placed back into their confined area and fed their allotment of swill.  These swill dairies were managed to maximize profit to the exclusion of common sense and concern for the product produced – the cows were milked without proper care and maintenance including cleaning stalls and testing for disease. As a consequence, this became an excellent environment for breeding bacteria and disease.  The unhealthy cows actually produced corrupted milk.  This resulted in high death rates from brucellosis (undulant fever) and other milk borne diseases. Although the strain of Tuberculosis (TB) found in cows is not transmissible to humans, the high rate of TB at this time was also blamed on cows and certification tests to this day require TB testing.  The pasteurization of milk became a regulatory requirement to decrease the occurrence of these diseases, as heat will kill the bacteria that spread these diseases. 

During this same time period in rural America, doctors recognized that raw milk from healthy animals was a strong “medicine”.  Away from the major population centers and strong politics, doctors campaigned for certified dairies that could sell raw milk safely. Milk from the countryside taken from healthy and clean cows, grazed on pasture, was the best medicine of the day.

The federal government has made it mandatory that all dairy animals be tested for both TB and Brucellosis.   When a dairy animal is diagnosed with one of these diseases, that animal must be euthanized. 

Because pasteurization should kill these bacteria, many states have outlawed the sale of raw milk.  Some states have maintained the alternative of ‘certifying’ and issuing permits for operations based on rigid requirements for raw milk production. These operations produce milk with fewer bacteria counts, and require more frequent testing.  Bacteria counts are allowed to be higher in milk to be pasteurized.

Interestingly, raw milk from healthy cows contains antigens that fight many of the bacteria and pathogens that cause disease and illness.  Tests from Organic Pastures dairy in California (www.organicpastures.com/faq.html), show that pathogen growth in healthy raw milk is less than in pasteurized milk.  For further reading see also The Untold Story of Milk by Ron Schmid, ND.

Health benefits
Raw milk and pasteurized milk are both demanded by the market.  Pasteurized milk has benefits that nutritionists talk about. However, raw milk has many additional nutritional benefits that are abbreviated by pasteurization and/or homogenization. Here is a list of sites which discuss the benefits of raw, unpastuerized/unhomogenized milk:
www.realmilk.com/healthbenefits.html
www.raw-milk-facts.com
www.rawmilk.org
www.westonaprice.org

Raw Milk from Sunshine Farms
We have a very disciplined approach in acquiring our milk and processing it once our girls have given it to us.  A brief description of our routine is as follows:
Twice daily, at about 5:45, we start bringing the animals into the parlor*.  We can milk four girls at a time, though we tend to buddy up on the girls, who can be milked from either side.  Once in the parlor, we brush each girl thoroughly, getting rid of dirt from the time they spent in the pasture or the barn, as well as hair they are shedding.  If the cows have manure in their tails, we brush the tail out.  Once the girl has been brushed, we take our bucket of hot water and wash the udder and teats.  We use soap and water, then we wash with a state approved disinfectant.  Next, we apply a salve or lotion type substance which helps keep the teats from getting chapped.  This whole process is very important, as it allows the girl to relax some, which in turn allows her to “let down” her milk.

Finally we are ready to start milking.  We milk by hand. The girls each get a specially mixed ration of grain which they enjoy immensely.  We make sure to milk each girl out completely as this helps to decrease the possibility of bacterial infection and Mastitis.  When we are done milking, we go through the udder clean up again, to make sure there will be no bacteria left behind when we turn them back out into their pasture. 

We have come to have great affection for our girls, and they for us.  They all know what their name is and come when called.  Their personalities keep us on our toes, and allow us many laughs through the months. 

After acquiring the milk, we are required to cool the milk to less than 45°F but not less than 33°F, within 4 hours of milking.  This takes some time as it comes out of the critter at about 100°F.  Once it has been cooled, the milk is poured into a bottle and our capping machine places the lid on the bottle. We designed our machines to meet requirements of the NMDA.  The bottle is then stored in the refrigerator where you (our customer) will find it upon purchase. 
   
The state requires that we label our milk bottle with the words “raw milk is not pasteurized and may contain organisms that cause human disease”.  It is true, if the milk has been improperly handled, or comes from unhealthy animals.  However, proper care of animals by the care givers decreases this hazard.  Our milk will be tested by the state at regular intervals.  Each bottle has a label with a batch number.  If the state finds this batch unhealthy, we will recall the bottle.  We are working together to get milk that is healthy for you.

*The Milk Parlor, the Milk Processing Room, and our process of operations are all audited and passed as part of the certification process which is required for the New Mexico State Department of Agriculture (NMDA) to issue us a permit to sell raw milk.  Requirements met include the Federal Pasteurized Milk Ordinance (PMO) and the additional requirements imposed on raw milk production.

Trivia
We have found it interesting to note several idioms which we feel certain originate from dairies:

Don’t cry over spilt milk—when you’ve spent time milking an animal, you end up with a bucket full of wonderful milk.  If the animal kicks the bucket, all you can do is watch as the milk seeps away.  Crying wouldn’t do any good, so we just carry on from there.

Save often— we’ve actually borrowed this one from the computer age for the dairy.  It goes a long way toward preventing the desire to cry over spilt milk.

Milk it for all it’s worth—this one has come to have a negative connotation, but in the dairy it’s an important thing to do.  By milking the girls completely, we:

• Prevent infections in the udder, which would result in the loss of milk.
• Prevent reduction in the quantity of milk they make.
• Get as much milk as possible.