So this post has actually sat uncompleted for about 2 months now. Ridiculous right? So I figured, it’s time to finish it up and post.

I was treated to a tour of a real organic dairy farm on the outskirts of Toronto. I was pretty excited by this opportunity, because like a lot of people I’m interested in organic food but don’t know what classifies as organic. There’s a lot of confusing information out there. The long and the short of it is this… Organic farms are truly organic. They don’t use any kind of pest control but instead resort to other means to control. For example, flies they string sticky tape all over the ceilings and this catches the majority of flies (There was very few in the barns, so it clearly works).

The cows are also really well treated. They get to eat real food and wonder/walk about anywhere they choose to. I think that was one of the nicest things to see – how well these animals were treated. We also learned that cows are incredibly smart creatures! (Shocked to learn this.) But I think some of this is best illustrated in pictures, so I’ve attached a bunch below so you can get an idea.

Conservation is a priority on this organic farm. As cows are milked, the hot milk is cooled by a pipe containing cold water. This transfers the heat to the water. Cows actually prefer drinking warm water, so the water is then piped to their drinking troughs.

As you can see, a rather effective method of dealing with flies is this. There were actually very few flies flying around, so clearly it works!

This cow is very pregnant and also has a sore back foot. So instead of forcing it out, they let her stay in. They even are treating her foot organically with warm water and epson salt baths.

The people who owned the farm were originally standard dairy farmers and one of the things they noticed when they did the process to cross over into being organic was the number of times they needed a emergency veternarian to see the cows. When they were a standard dairy farm, they often had to call a vet for an emergency monthly. Now, in the last year they’ve only needed to call a vet one time for an emergency. If that doesn’t say something about it, what does?

These are some young cows who aren't ready to be outdoors yet. Instead they are kept in a very warm pen until they are old enough. Also, of note, males who are born are sold for veal. I like my veal so I'm okay with that.

We also learned cows are smart. Within a few days, they know which stall is theirs. They also have a pecking order, so when the top cow goes somewhere, the rest follow. The owners of the farm said that cows are like people, there are really smart ones and some really dumb ones too. (He also admitted that he cried over a death of his top cow).

Interestingly, the cows also get vacations. They still get to go out, graze, enjoy the sun and play but they aren’t under the work pressure of delivering milk. The also come on command! They just ring a bell, and sure enough the lead cow would start to walk and the rest would follow. It was pretty fascinating.

It's a little tough to see, but the cows are all following the lead cow.

Then we went on a hay ride to check out other parts of the 155 acre property including their new organic hay property. It also gave me the opportunity to ask the hard hitting questions!

Question: Dairy is always the first thing that radiation appears in. With the Japanese situation, did they see any increase in radiation in their milk?
Answer: We aren’t required to test. (See here for details.)

Question: Do you have a methane sequestration procedure?
Answer: Nope.

Question: How do you incorporate compost or manure?
Answer: It goes to a concrete area where it is converted into compost over time. We rotate the manure periodically and once its ready we spread it onto our different crops which then adds nutrients to the soil.

Question: We all know about the pressure farmers get from companies like Monsanto in the States, does that occur here?
Answer: A little bit. The other farmers typically push on us a bit because we’re organic. But we lead by example. There is some other pressure we deal with, but not anything similar to the conditions for farmers in the States.

Question: Why did you become organic?
Answer: The prices of being a standard dairy farm kept going up. From spraying crops, all the veterinarian bills, buying feed, being over worked caused the prices of everything to go up. We don’t like high prices any more than the consumer, so we wanted to be less expensive. So we did the 5 year process to become an organic farm, and our costs have gone down significantly. Granted we don’t produce as much milk, but in terms of quality it can’t be beat. We also get a premium from the government.

Question: What is your stance on Raw Milk consumption?
Answer: We won’t comment on that.

These are the owners of the farm. They were incredible hosts, very friendly and really open and honest about everything. I truly enjoyed meeting them.

We were also treated to a delicious organic lunch from the people at Organic Meadow. Since then, no word of a lie, I buy organic whenever I can now (except yogurt… I haven’t found a good Greek organic yogurt I liked yet). I was particular impressed with how the cows are cared for.

The owners even offered that any blog readers who may want to check out the farm for themselves, they would be happy to accommodate! So, if you’re interested send me an email and I’ll make sure the people at Organic Meadow get in touch and see if that can be arranged.

I want to thank Organic Meadow for the invite and also the patience in me posting this. If you’re into knowing that the food you’re eating is natural, well taken care of and delicious, I can vouch for their dairy!