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Day by Day Dairy
Today I'm talking with Sara and Nick at Day by Day Dairy.
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00:00
You're listening to A Tiny Homestead, the podcast comprised entirely of conversations with homesteaders, cottage food producers, and crafters. I'm your host, Mary Lewis. Today I'm talking with Sarah and Nick at Day by Day Dairy in Wisconsin. Good morning, guys. How are you? Good and good morning. Good morning.
00:21
How is the weather in Wisconsin? Snowy. um looks like it's all trying to melt today, but it's going to be like 40 today. Yeah. Not a warm spell before it gets cold again, but never stays cold too long. I'm your, I'm your neighbor in Minnesota and it's supposed to hit 40 today and 45 tomorrow. Oh, okay. Yeah. It's, I prefer to stay frozen all winter instead of the thawing and I'm like freezing and muddy mess.
00:51
I'm sure it's not good for the cows feet. They go out on a concrete this time of year. We have them on a concrete cow yard and the ones there in the tie stall barn, they go in and out. They'll go in and out for a little while, but then we put them back in the tie stall. So yeah, they don't see too much mud this time of year. Try to keep them clean and dry as best as we can with the weather, you know. Good, good.
01:15
My husband watches videos of farmers and dairy farmers and cattle, know, steer meat, meat farmers on YouTube all the time. And he's watching, he's always watching these shows where the cows' hooves are all messed up from being out on wet pasture. And I'm like, it's so gross. Why do you have to watch these? I, isn't Nate the hoof guy? I watch his videos. He does, he does pasture or um, hoof trimming. Yeah. He does hoof trimming.
01:44
It heat up pasture and uh a freestyle barn cows. So it's kind of a mix, but I don't know why it's satisfying. like watching it. When we let ours out on the pasture, we rotationally graze all of our, all of our heifers. So they're always on fresh grass from probably beginning of May to almost first a week in December, sometimes a second week in November, depending on the weather. And the cows go out in a dry lot that has some.
02:14
green on it, but um just because they have a totally different ration, the milk cows do. We haven't figured out a way yet to perfect that intakes that they eat out and out if we do rotational grazing. yeah, no, definitely, we do get them outside quite a bit when the weather is appropriate. Good. All right. So since I knew I was going be talking to you, there is a song that I learned in school, I think.
02:42
And it's something about day by day, day by day. Oh dear Lord, three things I pray. And I don't know if you guys have ever heard it, but I had to learn it for a musical chorus thing back in probably sixth grade. So it was a long time ago. And so thank you for sending me into the way back machine by your name. And how did you, how did you get your name? Well, we were trying to think of names for a while.
03:09
And I'm like, Oh, what should we do? We had a lot of different like ideas, none of them just felt right. And one morning Nick woke up and he's like, I think, I don't know he said something about taking things day by day or something. Yeah. We're just trying to take it day by day to get to the next day. So then we're like, Hey, day by day dairy. It just kind of happened. Yeah. It just kind of happened like that. Awesome. Um, and also Wisconsin.
03:38
As far as I know, last time I looked it up, which was a few years back, Wisconsin is the or pretty much the state for milk production in the United States. Is that right? think California passes us in fluid milk production, but I think we're still number one in cheese. ah I believe California, because they have... Yeah, go ahead. Is that how you guys got the cheesehead moniker?
04:07
Yes, yes. Yeah, there's like a cheese store. There's so many cheese stores all over. Yeah. Both proximity. Yeah. Oh, yeah. When my husband and I make road trips to go see my folks in Maine, we go through Wisconsin because we drive and there's a uh Dane DeForge exit and there's a cheese shop there. And the first time we drove to Maine, he was like, we have to stop there. He grew up not far from there.
04:35
Well, he didn't grow up far from there. His family is from there. He grew up in Minnesota, but he used to visit family in Wisconsin. And he's like, we have to stop there. And I said, why? And he said, because they have the most wonderful Granny Smith wine, Granny Smith Apple wine. He said, and they have chocolate cheese. And he was raving about this chocolate cheese. And I was like, okay, so is it like fudge? He said, I can't explain it. You just have to try it. And I'm not a fan.
05:05
It is the weirdest like fudgy cheese thing ever and I it smells like fudge but you bite into it and it's really smooth and and soft like cheese and He gave me a piece. I ate it and I looked at him and I said I'm glad that you like it because it is all yours Yeah, I don't think I've ever tried chocolate cheese
05:30
Yeah, it's really weird. I mean, if you love fudge and you love hot chocolate, you're going to love this. But I just, couldn't get past the texture of it. we ship our mouth to a cheese plant too. Yeah, a little one. A small one. Yep. Screes. So our mouth goes to cheese. Is that all it goes to? It doesn't go to butter or anything? Well, I mean, some of the cream gets separated out when they're doing
06:00
when they're doing their process to make cheese, but that goes to, that would go to a different creamery. I mean, that's what most cheese plants, and then you, you know, you got your whey products too that come out of some cheese plants when they take out the whey. So I mean, there's a lot of things milk turns into when it gets turned into cheese. Okay. So usually, you know, your whey gets separated out from your milk and your, and your,
06:29
and you usually get some cream and that's on a cheese plant what they end up doing with that because they buy the product off of me. But um there's a lot of different things that milk gets turned into, you know, like your protein powder on your, your, oh, I can't think protein shakes and stuff like that was where a lot of that way ends up. Okay. And uh do all your creams, your cream factories take that and turn it into, you know, like your whipped cream and stuff like that. And, but
06:57
Yeah, no, mainly all of our milk here goes for goes for cheese. There's only really off the top of my head. I think one real local fluid milk plant. And when I say local, it's Appleton would be the Lamers that does liquid milk, drinking milk in the in the area. And when I say in the area, that's an hour and a half away. So there ain't too many plants that do drinking milk around here. OK, cool.
07:25
So how did you guys get into this dairy farming? That's a lot. We start way from the beginning. Well, ever since I was a little kid, I grew up on a dairy farm. My dad would have been the...
07:44
fifth generation dairy farmer and I'm sixth. But he milk cows for a while, him and my mom did, and they ended up changing career paths. Probably when I was about 14, the cows ended up going and we converted it to like a beef operation and we calved out our calves, cow calf operation is what they call it. All your animals freshen in and you raise them through the summer months and.
08:13
Me and my brother would work with them, cows and the calves in the summer months when they're out on pasture. And then every fall we'd sell the calves and put the cows, you know, back in the barn, take care of them all winter, get them bred and do it all over again. And we did that for a little while and I kind of got some steers and stuff through that, but I really just always felt like I was, if I was gonna farm, I was gonna do it as much as I could, as young as I could. And the only way I could feel like I could really do all.
08:41
farm and get the calf, well was, you know, a milk cow you have 365 days a year and you get milk out of it and a calf where beef cow you only got the calf. And I was a lot more hands on with the dairy industry and I always kind of liked the dairy industry and I always milked for other farmers after my dad got rid of the cows. So, uh, yeah, I just, when I turned about, I think it was 20 years old, I started milking a few cows and I kind of.
09:10
and renting out a barn. And I got one site that I rent out is where the milk cows is at. And then my home farm is where we do the rotational grazing with the dairy heifers and the dry cows and all of our young stock is at the home farm. And all of our, go ahead. So it's in your blood is what you're telling me. It's pretty much. mean, my grandpa spent a lot of time with me ever since I was real little working on the fields, fixing stuff. I mean, he's really the reason I'm doing what I'm doing. So yeah.
09:41
Do you still absolutely wholeheartedly love it? Most days, but you know, you have your good and your bad days, I guess, just with anything. Let's put it this way, I've tried probably, I don't know, how many different careers or how many different jobs, and I just always say, I'm just gonna farm. So I mean, it's just, I don't know, just something I've always probably do for as long as I can.
10:07
Okay. Is the dairy you guys' only job or do either one of you have a jobby job as I call it? So I also grew up on a dairy farm. Nick and I met in high school. So we've been together since then. But once I graduated, then I um ended up working off the farm and doing that for a while. And then once we had our kids, we had two kids back to back. They're 11 months apart. So then
10:37
We were like, well, they're only young for, they're only at that young stage for, you know, a short period of time. And so we made the decision that I'll just, you know, raise the kids at home on the farm. Um, so that's kind of how that came about. Otherwise, um, we did have that income too. Um, and I also have, I also own a reindeer business with my dad, which I started back in high school. So we've been doing that.
11:07
on the side. So busy with that as well, especially during the holiday season. yeah, I'm sure that you were very busy here a month or so ago. Baby reindeer are my favorite, favorite baby animal. They are so cute. They are, and they're so tiny when they're born. They're like 12 to 15 pounds. Are they as soft as they look? Yes.
11:35
They are very soft. I'm so jealous, Sarah. I've never been able to pet a baby reindeer before. have been able to pet white-tailed deer because we used to go to a place when I was a kid, um Maine Wildlife Sanctuary or something like that. And there were always fawns in the spring that had come in with their moms. And you could feed the moms and of course the babies would come up with them and you could pet the babies, which was really fun.
12:03
If you know anything about white-tailed deer, they are very soft, but it's more like a sleek soft and the baby reindeer look like they're just smushy. Like you just push your fingers into their fur. Yeah. And they're fluffy, very fluffy. Yeah. Yep. Boy, I am so envious that you get to deal with calves and baby reindeer. How lucky are you? Lots of animals. Yes, absolutely. So I just talked to a young woman.
12:30
Uh, Friday, I think it was Friday for an episode for the podcast that came out today. And she is also a dairy, but it's just her and she only has 15 cows and milk right now. And she only has access to 30 cows right now. So do you guys have a lot more cows than that? Or are you a small dairy as well? We're small. We keep 50 milking. There's usually about, and then between dry cows and heifers and
13:00
If we have a couple of steers or anything else, there's, there's another probably 50 to 60 heads. There's around 110. Well, and then you got your calves. So you're always about 110 head roaming around here someplace between the two sites. And, uh, and, know, I guess, uh, and then we do cash crop land at the other site where we do our rotational grazing and stuff. So there is, you know, we do have other, uh,
13:28
I guess just get at it. It's pretty diversified. I guess there's cash dropping. We sell hay. We do a lot of different other stuff too, I guess. I'll still farming, but yeah. I keep hearing that from a lot of people that if you're going to be in agriculture, you probably are going to need to be diversified because if something goes wrong in one section, you have the other section to rely on of your business. Yes. Yes.
13:59
Yup. Agriculture is one of the most interesting fields to be in, I swear, because there are so many avenues to go down and you don't have to just focus on one. Actually, it's smarter to focus on more than one. Yeah. And then because you talked about that one girl, she had a lot smaller herd. But when we say because some people will probably think our herd is big, but actually like in our area.
14:26
It's small. It's very small. There's there's thousands and thousands of cows of dairies around here. I think there's what more cows and people in our county. Yeah. And this side of the Mississippi. It used to be the statistic. The statistic. Yeah. Yep. Absolutely. But yeah, no, yeah, it's there and it's you know, they all kind of go hand in hand. The crops kind of go with the cattle because if you're not going to grow a really good crop, you're going to get any.
14:55
good milk out of your cows, know, and cattle like eating good quality, healthy plants. it always kind of, everything kind of seems to go together. So yeah, it does seem like multiple different avenues, but it's all kind of neat at the end of the day when you come in the barn and they're full of milk that's all from work you did out in the fields and that you did obviously with the cattle every day. It all kind of bundles up into one thing that goes into one silver.
15:20
stainless steel tank that gets picked up every other day. It's just kind neat that way. Yeah, it all works together in a circle and that's what agriculture is. mean, we don't have cattle, we don't have goats, we don't have sheep, we don't have any livestock here except chickens. And I'm not sure that chickens count as livestock. I think they're little dinosaurs and herding dinosaurs is not the easiest thing on the planet.
15:50
We do have a 50 foot by 150 foot um farm to market or farm to table garden. And we have the chickens and the garden scraps feed the chickens. The chickens make eggs, the eggs feed us, the eggs feed our neighbors. And then we continue to have the energy to grow the garden.
16:15
So it is just a circle here too. All of everything in agriculture is just one big circle. uh Yep. That's amazing. It's almost like nature had a plan, huh? Yeah. It's almost as well, guess seeing you brought up the chickens, uh, this last summer, we tried some chickens out in pasture and it is amazing to see what them chickens will do. We, we moved them around in their, uh, chicken tractor, it's called. Yep.
16:45
And it's amazing to see the amount of clovers and other plant vegetation that comes back out in them pastures, you know, because it was just grass before, like your fescue and your timothy. It's amazing to see the amount of clovers that's out there and the diversity from there from, you know, that chicken manure being applied to that area. It's really neat. yeah. It's almost like magic. I just, love everything about it. And that's why I love this podcast because
17:14
You guys know this stuff like the back of your hand, but when you're explaining it to me, I feel like the little spark comes back in your voices about how it all works together. Yep. Yeah. You get to interview all, cause in agriculture there's, a wide range. I mean, more than just dairy farming and beef and you get to talk to a ton of different people. I get to talk to people who buy acreage and turn it into, um, agritourism places. Oh.
17:44
Okay. Which is really fun because people are so inventive. I mean, I talked to a couple months ago, they have a lot of them forested acreage and they put up a cabin so that people can come and spend a night or a couple nights or a week in a cabin in the woods. There's no outhouse, there's no shower, there's no nothing. It's very rustic. But the people who go there love it because they get to just decompress.
18:13
They're told what the rules are. Don't leave food out because there are bears around and they will come get your food. And if you're in the way, they will get you. And I just love that they took something that was not necessarily growable or harvestable. And they're growing it in a completely different way. it's a good like people who want to experience that but don't own it or don't have, you know, access to it. That's a nice thing that they offer to people.
18:42
even if it's just a short period of time. exactly. I mean, you don't have to buy an acreage and get cows and ducks and chickens. You can like think outside the box and use it for something completely different. If you want to. Yes. Yeah. It's like we are putting in more fruit trees this year because fruit trees do really well on the land that we own. And we got
19:12
apples last year, like more than enough for us to eat and to sell some at the farmers market for the first time since we moved in five years ago. And we always wanted apple trees. Like my husband and I have been together for over 20 years and we used to just sit and dream about what our homestead would look like if we ever got one. And the first thing out of both of our mouths was apple trees for sure.
19:36
Can't tell you how delicious that first apple tasted because we've been waiting a damn long time for them. I believe it. So, um do you guys have a specific time that you calve? Is it in the spring because it's warmer or do you end up with calves in the winter? Well, with the dairy and us being in the milk business, we calve year round. I mean, there's no... m
20:04
Back in the day when it was a cow-calf pair, we always tried to have the calves in the ground, know, middle to later spring. But with the dairy cows, I mean, we're calving year round, you know, trying to keep five to six animals coming in the barn between the heifers and stuff a month. Sometimes that works out. Sometimes you only have two or three. It all depends on your breeding and how it goes. But yeah, we try to keep a uh decent flow of animals calving monthly.
20:34
You have babies all year round? Yep. Oh my God. I'm so jealous. I mean, I know it costs you a lot of money and a lot of time and a lot of energy. And I know it's a job, but how sweet is it to have those calves every month? Yeah. There's a lot of them. There's a lot. Well, they add up. They add up. They add up. You don't think there's going to be a lot? Oh, yep. There's quite a few.
21:03
And then, sometimes I like little jerseys, but yeah, yeah, I to know. Yeah, two of them are coming, but the jerseys were kind of something I thought I'd be fading out of. And they kind of came back with a vengeance. I had more in the barn at the other place than I really thought I had coming up. And I thought I was down to about two and I'm pretty sure I'm going to have seven again. So as most of the herd Holsteins, yeah, most of the herd is Holsteins.
21:29
I say this all the time when people bring up Jersey cows, they are my favorite cow. I love their faces. know. I agree. it's like a... oh Holsteins are beautiful animals, but Jerseys just have this thing about them. It makes them look like a stuffed animal and I love them. I think the calves, look like some kids, like I think it was my nephew, they call them a deer the first time they saw...
21:57
Jersey calf they're like deer. I'm like, nope. It's not a deer. It's a calf Yep, and the other thing that's that's really funny is I for a long time called any bovine a cow and My dad after years of this growing up. He was like just so you know, not all bovines are cows and I said they're not and he said no he said a male Not able to reproduce bovine is a steer
22:28
He said, a male bovine who is still able to produce is called a bull. He said, and there's a whole bunch of distinctions for the female cows, but they're cows if they're female. And I said, why didn't you tell me before? And he said, because cows are cows. He said, we're not raising them. And I was like, okay, why are you telling me now? And he said, because you are so curious about everything. He said, I thought I should tell you before you ask.
22:56
So the distinction for the female bovines, a heifer is a cow that hasn't had babies yet? am I mistaken? what's the name for a cow that has had babies? Is there a different name? No, no, no, no, you're a cow. No, it's a cow. oh then if you really want to get anything under a year, it's called a calf. And then when they're
23:25
a year they're called yearlings the heifers are now and then when they're bred a couple months just short bred and then when they're within a month or two don't quote me on that definition they're called springing heifers. Oh okay. Yep so yeah so yeah I guess there's a uh plethora of terms if we really want to get down to it otherwise it's just calf heifer cow. And then there's steers. Steers and bulls.
23:52
Well, the whole point of the podcast is educate the general public on all the stuff they don't know. So I figured I would take the chance to ask experts. Yeah. That's a big misconception. And some people think, a lot of people don't know the difference between beef and dairy either, that there's a difference between the breeds. Yeah. And there is. Yes. Yeah. Yeah, there is. There's a lot of people who don't know that either. Well, a lot of your beef cattle, like what I
24:21
when my dad was converted to for a while there, um they're bred with just the idea that they're going to be meat animals and they're going to produce meat and they're going to, and then the, then the cows are going to grow calves and they're going to nurse on over five months. And then those are going to be either their replacements eventually, or steers where your milk cow is obviously produced to have a calf, produce milk and get bred back and do the cycle over again.
24:52
Yup. Okay. So I know you guys are a dairy, but I also know there's no guarantee that all of your cows are going to have female calves. So do you guys sell the male calves off? yeah. Okay. So yeah, that's a loaded question with our breeding. A lot of the dairy industry has gone to, they look at their cow and they're only breeding. I'm just going to throw a random percentage out there. Like the top 10 to 15 % are getting bred with.
25:21
Sex semen so you're getting like sex hosting calves usually on the ground. They're female and then you're breeding them bottom half to or the bottom third or whatever um You're breeding them to beef So they're getting crossbred with like a beef animal like we talked about before and that beef animal is then put out to market, you know, Like an Angus or Simitol there's uh
25:49
Usually them are the two main ones, but there's quite a few beef breeds. But yeah, that's usually when that's kind of been the new trend that has been happening. Probably, I mean, 10 years ago, a bunch of old farmers thought it was never going to happen. And now, I mean, it is something that happens quite a bit. And it is really kind of taking the industry over, I'd say, a lot, a lot. You're seeing a lot more cross-bred calves go to market, which is
26:18
probably for the best, because now you have a high quality meat animal instead of a Holstein bull calf that, yeah, it's going to still put on meat, but it's not going to be as high quality as a cross animal. um yeah, that's kind of what happens. oh cool. And then I have another podcast that I've started with a lady that is a rancher in Nebraska. And she was telling me that this past year, 2025,
26:47
was a banner year for beef cattle producers. Is the dairy market not keeping pace with that at all? Well, the calf market, you know, guys are having the dairy producers are able to capitalize on this calf market really, really well, because replacements for these beef industry is so tight. that's something that
27:15
really, I think is really a good thing for the dairy industry. um But as far as the milk goes, I say average and I say now it's starting to get a little below average. um Supplies there's enough milk out there by the sounds of it again. But I mean, that's just with everything in this industry, it goes up and down. We've had some real good years in the past, but it's it's breaks are getting pumped and it's it's it's going to be a couple tight.
27:43
tight years coming up ahead for milk, I would say. Please don't stop doing it because I love milk. I just drank a whole glass of whole milk with cookie, with ginger snaps that my husband decided to make this morning for breakfast. Do not stop, please. Yeah. Yeah. We'll be here too. I mean, when I started, I went through COVID when that happened. I remember getting $10 a hundredweight and way back when I first started it was $13 a hundredweight.
28:13
And just to put that in perspective, a couple of years ago, I'd say last year, I think we hit 24 in July. It always goes up a little bit in summer. But like right now, if you look on the board for CMEA, it's gonna be down in January here to 1475. And our costs have not gone down any. And you're talking about being in margins or...
28:41
The price of milk being within a dollar of a $13 a hundredweight that 10 years or eight years ago was tough floating for a lot of producers. So, I mean, just put that in perspective for you. mean, that's kind of the way the industry goes every now and again. Granted, you know, through time, we tend to get more milk and, you know, more diversifying, like with the beef cattle and everything else. But that just seems to kind of be the trend with that milk price.
29:10
Yeah, and the average consumer has no idea what it takes to raise dairy cows. They have no clue, the heart and the soul, number one, how much it costs to feed those critters, not to mention any care that they need, like veterinary care. Yeah. Yeah. Yes. And yeah, it's like I said, I think that, you know, I'm glad I started when I did.
29:39
Cause everyone when I started thought I was nuts. You remember you had a hard time finding? Wasn't the plants, certain plants? Yeah, was a hard time. It was hard to get into plants. know it's a lot of plants weren't taking, but I mean, it's, how do I word it? I'm glad I started when I did, cause you just eventually got to hop on the bandwagon and you know, it's gonna, it's a roller coaster just going up and down no matter what, no matter where you jump in on it. So when I started,
30:08
I was able to buy cows fairly reasonable. I'd buy cows from farmers that, you know, their barns are full and it was probably the bottom end of the herd, but I still took it home. I, you know, and with that beef market starting, I was able to breed some of them to beef and maybe kind of gave me time to breed my better ones to sex semen, which that helped a lot to grow the herd. Um, cause yeah, I mean, when I think about what I started with, I want to have now for cows.
30:35
and how I was able to do it in such a short time. And I think about how like my grandfather and my dad farmed and they always said it takes a lifetime to get a herd of cows. ah I feel like I'm my cows now. I know I don't have the best of the best by any means the word, but I feel like compared to when my dad and my grandpa's, you know, were done, I feel like I'm very competitive with what they had, you know, I feel and granted, you know, there's a lot of time lapse there, but
31:05
It took eight years instead of a lifetime. Just the genetics in these animals and the genomics is just, it's outstanding what has taken place in eight years that I've been doing it hard where I've been in the bar, melting cows. is just, it just floors me how we were able to produce these animals now and for health traits and everything. It's amazing. Yes. It's amazing how when nature and science come together for good, actual good things happen.
31:35
Yep. So for funsies, have a parting question. Do you have a favorite milk cow out of your herd? The one that melts the most. I like all lineback cows. I know Nick is, that's a, we don't have a lot of them, but I think they're so cute. No, I got an old cow that she was going with me. She was a calf when I started.
32:04
So she was born in that first batch, out of that first group of heifers I had when I started. So she's, she's what? I've been milking for probably eight, eight years. She's nine. She's no, well, she's eight years old. So she's on her sixth lactation. I don't know. I always really liked that cow. She never, never gives me no trouble. She's always there. Because she was there from the beginning. Yeah. Was she a calf when you got her or was she a cow? She cowed, her mom calved on the farm.
32:33
Okay. So she was a calf that I raised. One of the first ones. Uh know, when I started milking, milking cows. so eight years ago she was born, you know, so yeah. Don't hear. Yeah. 24 months later she had her first calf. So yeah, you got a couple of calves in the barn, but yeah, she's hopefully we get her bread and she can have one more at least. And I lied. That wasn't my last question. Cause I meant to ask you this earlier. Sorry about that.
33:01
I don't know what the laws are in Wisconsin for raw milk. So what are the laws in Wisconsin for raw, not pasteurized milk?
33:12
My understanding, it's illegal. it? Yeah. You can't. Yeah. You can't. In Wisconsin, at least. I know I've heard some states, they're way more lenient. I think Minnesota just passed a lot. Is that correct? I feel like it wasn't Minnesota. Somebody just joined the raw milk. There was some legislature, legislature, the legislation that just went through. And there's a handful of states that have passed it. But.
33:41
think it might come to Wisconsin. Um, I've been doing a little research on it and I think, you know, there's a lot more to that than people really seem to look into. Like your water gets tested and, um, a lot of other things that need to be done. But I think it's, could be a real good opportunity for some smaller producers down the road. yeah. Um, yeah, I hope something happens with it. really do. Yeah. Cause we did look into it, but yeah, the state of Wisconsin is harder.
34:10
for that, the raw milk. Does Wisconsin have the thing where you can sell raw milk only for pet consumption? That I do not know. I'm not sure on because we were looking at for farmers to sell. To sell to people. Yeah, I don't know. yeah, I kind of get scared when we start talking food and drug administration regulations, I guess.
34:35
You know, I just try to ask anyone who's in the industry because it is different in almost every state. Yeah. There is a handful of states. I know that just passed it because I remember reading some article, but, um, feel like there's a lot more of a demand for it too. Now for people who want that as well, but it's just not as easy to get it because of those regulations. Yeah. The law here in Minnesota is that the farmers can sell raw milk out of their tanks.
35:04
as long as the person buying it comes to the farm where the cow lives and where the cow was milked and where the tank is. And I'm not positive, but I think I could be wrong. I feel like the law is that the consumer has to bring their own container, but I could be wrong. Like I said, I did not look in it that deep. mean, it is something that I think will eventually
35:34
just like everything will kind of pass, especially with all this stuff going on in West Chase of Nile with regenerative agriculture and everything else. think we're, it's an incredible time to really be doing this. There's gonna be a lot of changes in the next 10 years, I think, on these smaller farms, probably towards this. So I think it's gonna be interesting to see.
35:56
Yeah, I'm all for it because I absolutely love love raw milk, but I can't afford it right now in Minnesota. It costs too much and I want to be able to pay it, but I just can't. Yeah. How much is it in there over there? The last I looked, it was over $10. I want to say for a half gallon, but it could have been a gallon. don't remember. No, I, yeah, I, there was a podcast I listened to about it. Shera pointed me towards it.
36:26
Yeah. And there was a guy, a gentleman owned in California who started it and explained it. yeah, it is, it, could really do a lot of good for the industry if something like that would come ahead. And it just, to the testing that will be involved in it. Once they figure that out, and I think a couple more states do it and they have it for a while. I think that it's going to be an easier thing to get past probably in states like Wisconsin. But yeah.
36:56
Yeah, the best thing about raw milk is that you can make cheese from it. If you try to make cheese with pasteurized whole milk from the store, it doesn't usually turn out the way you want it to. No, no. And the thing is with, uh you know, with raw milk, it separates. So I know a lot of people like to use that cream for many different things that you can just do at home with.
37:22
Yeah, the cream from the unpasteurized milk is fabulous in coffee. It makes it into this decadent dessert drink, not just coffee. Yep, I believe it. So yeah, I will be a happy girl when I can go to the regular grocery store and buy unpasteurized milk and know that it's fine. That'll be a great day. Maybe I will live long enough to see it. We'll see what happens. All right, guys, this has been
37:51
Fabulous. Thank you for taking the time to talk with me. Where can people find you? We're on TikTok, Facebook and YouTube, day by day dairy. Fantastic. As always, you can find me at atinyhomesteadpodcast.com. If you want to support the podcast, you can go to atinyhomestead.com slash support and just started a new
38:16
podcast with the lady I was talking about and that podcast is Grit and Grace in the Heartland Women in Agriculture. uh You guys, I know you're busy. Thank you so much for your time. I really appreciate it. No, of course. Thanks for inviting us. All right. Thank you. You have a great day. You too.
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By Mary E LewisToday I'm talking with Sara and Nick at Day by Day Dairy.
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00:00
You're listening to A Tiny Homestead, the podcast comprised entirely of conversations with homesteaders, cottage food producers, and crafters. I'm your host, Mary Lewis. Today I'm talking with Sarah and Nick at Day by Day Dairy in Wisconsin. Good morning, guys. How are you? Good and good morning. Good morning.
00:21
How is the weather in Wisconsin? Snowy. um looks like it's all trying to melt today, but it's going to be like 40 today. Yeah. Not a warm spell before it gets cold again, but never stays cold too long. I'm your, I'm your neighbor in Minnesota and it's supposed to hit 40 today and 45 tomorrow. Oh, okay. Yeah. It's, I prefer to stay frozen all winter instead of the thawing and I'm like freezing and muddy mess.
00:51
I'm sure it's not good for the cows feet. They go out on a concrete this time of year. We have them on a concrete cow yard and the ones there in the tie stall barn, they go in and out. They'll go in and out for a little while, but then we put them back in the tie stall. So yeah, they don't see too much mud this time of year. Try to keep them clean and dry as best as we can with the weather, you know. Good, good.
01:15
My husband watches videos of farmers and dairy farmers and cattle, know, steer meat, meat farmers on YouTube all the time. And he's watching, he's always watching these shows where the cows' hooves are all messed up from being out on wet pasture. And I'm like, it's so gross. Why do you have to watch these? I, isn't Nate the hoof guy? I watch his videos. He does, he does pasture or um, hoof trimming. Yeah. He does hoof trimming.
01:44
It heat up pasture and uh a freestyle barn cows. So it's kind of a mix, but I don't know why it's satisfying. like watching it. When we let ours out on the pasture, we rotationally graze all of our, all of our heifers. So they're always on fresh grass from probably beginning of May to almost first a week in December, sometimes a second week in November, depending on the weather. And the cows go out in a dry lot that has some.
02:14
green on it, but um just because they have a totally different ration, the milk cows do. We haven't figured out a way yet to perfect that intakes that they eat out and out if we do rotational grazing. yeah, no, definitely, we do get them outside quite a bit when the weather is appropriate. Good. All right. So since I knew I was going be talking to you, there is a song that I learned in school, I think.
02:42
And it's something about day by day, day by day. Oh dear Lord, three things I pray. And I don't know if you guys have ever heard it, but I had to learn it for a musical chorus thing back in probably sixth grade. So it was a long time ago. And so thank you for sending me into the way back machine by your name. And how did you, how did you get your name? Well, we were trying to think of names for a while.
03:09
And I'm like, Oh, what should we do? We had a lot of different like ideas, none of them just felt right. And one morning Nick woke up and he's like, I think, I don't know he said something about taking things day by day or something. Yeah. We're just trying to take it day by day to get to the next day. So then we're like, Hey, day by day dairy. It just kind of happened. Yeah. It just kind of happened like that. Awesome. Um, and also Wisconsin.
03:38
As far as I know, last time I looked it up, which was a few years back, Wisconsin is the or pretty much the state for milk production in the United States. Is that right? think California passes us in fluid milk production, but I think we're still number one in cheese. ah I believe California, because they have... Yeah, go ahead. Is that how you guys got the cheesehead moniker?
04:07
Yes, yes. Yeah, there's like a cheese store. There's so many cheese stores all over. Yeah. Both proximity. Yeah. Oh, yeah. When my husband and I make road trips to go see my folks in Maine, we go through Wisconsin because we drive and there's a uh Dane DeForge exit and there's a cheese shop there. And the first time we drove to Maine, he was like, we have to stop there. He grew up not far from there.
04:35
Well, he didn't grow up far from there. His family is from there. He grew up in Minnesota, but he used to visit family in Wisconsin. And he's like, we have to stop there. And I said, why? And he said, because they have the most wonderful Granny Smith wine, Granny Smith Apple wine. He said, and they have chocolate cheese. And he was raving about this chocolate cheese. And I was like, okay, so is it like fudge? He said, I can't explain it. You just have to try it. And I'm not a fan.
05:05
It is the weirdest like fudgy cheese thing ever and I it smells like fudge but you bite into it and it's really smooth and and soft like cheese and He gave me a piece. I ate it and I looked at him and I said I'm glad that you like it because it is all yours Yeah, I don't think I've ever tried chocolate cheese
05:30
Yeah, it's really weird. I mean, if you love fudge and you love hot chocolate, you're going to love this. But I just, couldn't get past the texture of it. we ship our mouth to a cheese plant too. Yeah, a little one. A small one. Yep. Screes. So our mouth goes to cheese. Is that all it goes to? It doesn't go to butter or anything? Well, I mean, some of the cream gets separated out when they're doing
06:00
when they're doing their process to make cheese, but that goes to, that would go to a different creamery. I mean, that's what most cheese plants, and then you, you know, you got your whey products too that come out of some cheese plants when they take out the whey. So I mean, there's a lot of things milk turns into when it gets turned into cheese. Okay. So usually, you know, your whey gets separated out from your milk and your, and your,
06:29
and you usually get some cream and that's on a cheese plant what they end up doing with that because they buy the product off of me. But um there's a lot of different things that milk gets turned into, you know, like your protein powder on your, your, oh, I can't think protein shakes and stuff like that was where a lot of that way ends up. Okay. And uh do all your creams, your cream factories take that and turn it into, you know, like your whipped cream and stuff like that. And, but
06:57
Yeah, no, mainly all of our milk here goes for goes for cheese. There's only really off the top of my head. I think one real local fluid milk plant. And when I say local, it's Appleton would be the Lamers that does liquid milk, drinking milk in the in the area. And when I say in the area, that's an hour and a half away. So there ain't too many plants that do drinking milk around here. OK, cool.
07:25
So how did you guys get into this dairy farming? That's a lot. We start way from the beginning. Well, ever since I was a little kid, I grew up on a dairy farm. My dad would have been the...
07:44
fifth generation dairy farmer and I'm sixth. But he milk cows for a while, him and my mom did, and they ended up changing career paths. Probably when I was about 14, the cows ended up going and we converted it to like a beef operation and we calved out our calves, cow calf operation is what they call it. All your animals freshen in and you raise them through the summer months and.
08:13
Me and my brother would work with them, cows and the calves in the summer months when they're out on pasture. And then every fall we'd sell the calves and put the cows, you know, back in the barn, take care of them all winter, get them bred and do it all over again. And we did that for a little while and I kind of got some steers and stuff through that, but I really just always felt like I was, if I was gonna farm, I was gonna do it as much as I could, as young as I could. And the only way I could feel like I could really do all.
08:41
farm and get the calf, well was, you know, a milk cow you have 365 days a year and you get milk out of it and a calf where beef cow you only got the calf. And I was a lot more hands on with the dairy industry and I always kind of liked the dairy industry and I always milked for other farmers after my dad got rid of the cows. So, uh, yeah, I just, when I turned about, I think it was 20 years old, I started milking a few cows and I kind of.
09:10
and renting out a barn. And I got one site that I rent out is where the milk cows is at. And then my home farm is where we do the rotational grazing with the dairy heifers and the dry cows and all of our young stock is at the home farm. And all of our, go ahead. So it's in your blood is what you're telling me. It's pretty much. mean, my grandpa spent a lot of time with me ever since I was real little working on the fields, fixing stuff. I mean, he's really the reason I'm doing what I'm doing. So yeah.
09:41
Do you still absolutely wholeheartedly love it? Most days, but you know, you have your good and your bad days, I guess, just with anything. Let's put it this way, I've tried probably, I don't know, how many different careers or how many different jobs, and I just always say, I'm just gonna farm. So I mean, it's just, I don't know, just something I've always probably do for as long as I can.
10:07
Okay. Is the dairy you guys' only job or do either one of you have a jobby job as I call it? So I also grew up on a dairy farm. Nick and I met in high school. So we've been together since then. But once I graduated, then I um ended up working off the farm and doing that for a while. And then once we had our kids, we had two kids back to back. They're 11 months apart. So then
10:37
We were like, well, they're only young for, they're only at that young stage for, you know, a short period of time. And so we made the decision that I'll just, you know, raise the kids at home on the farm. Um, so that's kind of how that came about. Otherwise, um, we did have that income too. Um, and I also have, I also own a reindeer business with my dad, which I started back in high school. So we've been doing that.
11:07
on the side. So busy with that as well, especially during the holiday season. yeah, I'm sure that you were very busy here a month or so ago. Baby reindeer are my favorite, favorite baby animal. They are so cute. They are, and they're so tiny when they're born. They're like 12 to 15 pounds. Are they as soft as they look? Yes.
11:35
They are very soft. I'm so jealous, Sarah. I've never been able to pet a baby reindeer before. have been able to pet white-tailed deer because we used to go to a place when I was a kid, um Maine Wildlife Sanctuary or something like that. And there were always fawns in the spring that had come in with their moms. And you could feed the moms and of course the babies would come up with them and you could pet the babies, which was really fun.
12:03
If you know anything about white-tailed deer, they are very soft, but it's more like a sleek soft and the baby reindeer look like they're just smushy. Like you just push your fingers into their fur. Yeah. And they're fluffy, very fluffy. Yeah. Yep. Boy, I am so envious that you get to deal with calves and baby reindeer. How lucky are you? Lots of animals. Yes, absolutely. So I just talked to a young woman.
12:30
Uh, Friday, I think it was Friday for an episode for the podcast that came out today. And she is also a dairy, but it's just her and she only has 15 cows and milk right now. And she only has access to 30 cows right now. So do you guys have a lot more cows than that? Or are you a small dairy as well? We're small. We keep 50 milking. There's usually about, and then between dry cows and heifers and
13:00
If we have a couple of steers or anything else, there's, there's another probably 50 to 60 heads. There's around 110. Well, and then you got your calves. So you're always about 110 head roaming around here someplace between the two sites. And, uh, and, know, I guess, uh, and then we do cash crop land at the other site where we do our rotational grazing and stuff. So there is, you know, we do have other, uh,
13:28
I guess just get at it. It's pretty diversified. I guess there's cash dropping. We sell hay. We do a lot of different other stuff too, I guess. I'll still farming, but yeah. I keep hearing that from a lot of people that if you're going to be in agriculture, you probably are going to need to be diversified because if something goes wrong in one section, you have the other section to rely on of your business. Yes. Yes.
13:59
Yup. Agriculture is one of the most interesting fields to be in, I swear, because there are so many avenues to go down and you don't have to just focus on one. Actually, it's smarter to focus on more than one. Yeah. And then because you talked about that one girl, she had a lot smaller herd. But when we say because some people will probably think our herd is big, but actually like in our area.
14:26
It's small. It's very small. There's there's thousands and thousands of cows of dairies around here. I think there's what more cows and people in our county. Yeah. And this side of the Mississippi. It used to be the statistic. The statistic. Yeah. Yep. Absolutely. But yeah, no, yeah, it's there and it's you know, they all kind of go hand in hand. The crops kind of go with the cattle because if you're not going to grow a really good crop, you're going to get any.
14:55
good milk out of your cows, know, and cattle like eating good quality, healthy plants. it always kind of, everything kind of seems to go together. So yeah, it does seem like multiple different avenues, but it's all kind of neat at the end of the day when you come in the barn and they're full of milk that's all from work you did out in the fields and that you did obviously with the cattle every day. It all kind of bundles up into one thing that goes into one silver.
15:20
stainless steel tank that gets picked up every other day. It's just kind neat that way. Yeah, it all works together in a circle and that's what agriculture is. mean, we don't have cattle, we don't have goats, we don't have sheep, we don't have any livestock here except chickens. And I'm not sure that chickens count as livestock. I think they're little dinosaurs and herding dinosaurs is not the easiest thing on the planet.
15:50
We do have a 50 foot by 150 foot um farm to market or farm to table garden. And we have the chickens and the garden scraps feed the chickens. The chickens make eggs, the eggs feed us, the eggs feed our neighbors. And then we continue to have the energy to grow the garden.
16:15
So it is just a circle here too. All of everything in agriculture is just one big circle. uh Yep. That's amazing. It's almost like nature had a plan, huh? Yeah. It's almost as well, guess seeing you brought up the chickens, uh, this last summer, we tried some chickens out in pasture and it is amazing to see what them chickens will do. We, we moved them around in their, uh, chicken tractor, it's called. Yep.
16:45
And it's amazing to see the amount of clovers and other plant vegetation that comes back out in them pastures, you know, because it was just grass before, like your fescue and your timothy. It's amazing to see the amount of clovers that's out there and the diversity from there from, you know, that chicken manure being applied to that area. It's really neat. yeah. It's almost like magic. I just, love everything about it. And that's why I love this podcast because
17:14
You guys know this stuff like the back of your hand, but when you're explaining it to me, I feel like the little spark comes back in your voices about how it all works together. Yep. Yeah. You get to interview all, cause in agriculture there's, a wide range. I mean, more than just dairy farming and beef and you get to talk to a ton of different people. I get to talk to people who buy acreage and turn it into, um, agritourism places. Oh.
17:44
Okay. Which is really fun because people are so inventive. I mean, I talked to a couple months ago, they have a lot of them forested acreage and they put up a cabin so that people can come and spend a night or a couple nights or a week in a cabin in the woods. There's no outhouse, there's no shower, there's no nothing. It's very rustic. But the people who go there love it because they get to just decompress.
18:13
They're told what the rules are. Don't leave food out because there are bears around and they will come get your food. And if you're in the way, they will get you. And I just love that they took something that was not necessarily growable or harvestable. And they're growing it in a completely different way. it's a good like people who want to experience that but don't own it or don't have, you know, access to it. That's a nice thing that they offer to people.
18:42
even if it's just a short period of time. exactly. I mean, you don't have to buy an acreage and get cows and ducks and chickens. You can like think outside the box and use it for something completely different. If you want to. Yes. Yeah. It's like we are putting in more fruit trees this year because fruit trees do really well on the land that we own. And we got
19:12
apples last year, like more than enough for us to eat and to sell some at the farmers market for the first time since we moved in five years ago. And we always wanted apple trees. Like my husband and I have been together for over 20 years and we used to just sit and dream about what our homestead would look like if we ever got one. And the first thing out of both of our mouths was apple trees for sure.
19:36
Can't tell you how delicious that first apple tasted because we've been waiting a damn long time for them. I believe it. So, um do you guys have a specific time that you calve? Is it in the spring because it's warmer or do you end up with calves in the winter? Well, with the dairy and us being in the milk business, we calve year round. I mean, there's no... m
20:04
Back in the day when it was a cow-calf pair, we always tried to have the calves in the ground, know, middle to later spring. But with the dairy cows, I mean, we're calving year round, you know, trying to keep five to six animals coming in the barn between the heifers and stuff a month. Sometimes that works out. Sometimes you only have two or three. It all depends on your breeding and how it goes. But yeah, we try to keep a uh decent flow of animals calving monthly.
20:34
You have babies all year round? Yep. Oh my God. I'm so jealous. I mean, I know it costs you a lot of money and a lot of time and a lot of energy. And I know it's a job, but how sweet is it to have those calves every month? Yeah. There's a lot of them. There's a lot. Well, they add up. They add up. They add up. You don't think there's going to be a lot? Oh, yep. There's quite a few.
21:03
And then, sometimes I like little jerseys, but yeah, yeah, I to know. Yeah, two of them are coming, but the jerseys were kind of something I thought I'd be fading out of. And they kind of came back with a vengeance. I had more in the barn at the other place than I really thought I had coming up. And I thought I was down to about two and I'm pretty sure I'm going to have seven again. So as most of the herd Holsteins, yeah, most of the herd is Holsteins.
21:29
I say this all the time when people bring up Jersey cows, they are my favorite cow. I love their faces. know. I agree. it's like a... oh Holsteins are beautiful animals, but Jerseys just have this thing about them. It makes them look like a stuffed animal and I love them. I think the calves, look like some kids, like I think it was my nephew, they call them a deer the first time they saw...
21:57
Jersey calf they're like deer. I'm like, nope. It's not a deer. It's a calf Yep, and the other thing that's that's really funny is I for a long time called any bovine a cow and My dad after years of this growing up. He was like just so you know, not all bovines are cows and I said they're not and he said no he said a male Not able to reproduce bovine is a steer
22:28
He said, a male bovine who is still able to produce is called a bull. He said, and there's a whole bunch of distinctions for the female cows, but they're cows if they're female. And I said, why didn't you tell me before? And he said, because cows are cows. He said, we're not raising them. And I was like, okay, why are you telling me now? And he said, because you are so curious about everything. He said, I thought I should tell you before you ask.
22:56
So the distinction for the female bovines, a heifer is a cow that hasn't had babies yet? am I mistaken? what's the name for a cow that has had babies? Is there a different name? No, no, no, no, you're a cow. No, it's a cow. oh then if you really want to get anything under a year, it's called a calf. And then when they're
23:25
a year they're called yearlings the heifers are now and then when they're bred a couple months just short bred and then when they're within a month or two don't quote me on that definition they're called springing heifers. Oh okay. Yep so yeah so yeah I guess there's a uh plethora of terms if we really want to get down to it otherwise it's just calf heifer cow. And then there's steers. Steers and bulls.
23:52
Well, the whole point of the podcast is educate the general public on all the stuff they don't know. So I figured I would take the chance to ask experts. Yeah. That's a big misconception. And some people think, a lot of people don't know the difference between beef and dairy either, that there's a difference between the breeds. Yeah. And there is. Yes. Yeah. Yeah, there is. There's a lot of people who don't know that either. Well, a lot of your beef cattle, like what I
24:21
when my dad was converted to for a while there, um they're bred with just the idea that they're going to be meat animals and they're going to produce meat and they're going to, and then the, then the cows are going to grow calves and they're going to nurse on over five months. And then those are going to be either their replacements eventually, or steers where your milk cow is obviously produced to have a calf, produce milk and get bred back and do the cycle over again.
24:52
Yup. Okay. So I know you guys are a dairy, but I also know there's no guarantee that all of your cows are going to have female calves. So do you guys sell the male calves off? yeah. Okay. So yeah, that's a loaded question with our breeding. A lot of the dairy industry has gone to, they look at their cow and they're only breeding. I'm just going to throw a random percentage out there. Like the top 10 to 15 % are getting bred with.
25:21
Sex semen so you're getting like sex hosting calves usually on the ground. They're female and then you're breeding them bottom half to or the bottom third or whatever um You're breeding them to beef So they're getting crossbred with like a beef animal like we talked about before and that beef animal is then put out to market, you know, Like an Angus or Simitol there's uh
25:49
Usually them are the two main ones, but there's quite a few beef breeds. But yeah, that's usually when that's kind of been the new trend that has been happening. Probably, I mean, 10 years ago, a bunch of old farmers thought it was never going to happen. And now, I mean, it is something that happens quite a bit. And it is really kind of taking the industry over, I'd say, a lot, a lot. You're seeing a lot more cross-bred calves go to market, which is
26:18
probably for the best, because now you have a high quality meat animal instead of a Holstein bull calf that, yeah, it's going to still put on meat, but it's not going to be as high quality as a cross animal. um yeah, that's kind of what happens. oh cool. And then I have another podcast that I've started with a lady that is a rancher in Nebraska. And she was telling me that this past year, 2025,
26:47
was a banner year for beef cattle producers. Is the dairy market not keeping pace with that at all? Well, the calf market, you know, guys are having the dairy producers are able to capitalize on this calf market really, really well, because replacements for these beef industry is so tight. that's something that
27:15
really, I think is really a good thing for the dairy industry. um But as far as the milk goes, I say average and I say now it's starting to get a little below average. um Supplies there's enough milk out there by the sounds of it again. But I mean, that's just with everything in this industry, it goes up and down. We've had some real good years in the past, but it's it's breaks are getting pumped and it's it's it's going to be a couple tight.
27:43
tight years coming up ahead for milk, I would say. Please don't stop doing it because I love milk. I just drank a whole glass of whole milk with cookie, with ginger snaps that my husband decided to make this morning for breakfast. Do not stop, please. Yeah. Yeah. We'll be here too. I mean, when I started, I went through COVID when that happened. I remember getting $10 a hundredweight and way back when I first started it was $13 a hundredweight.
28:13
And just to put that in perspective, a couple of years ago, I'd say last year, I think we hit 24 in July. It always goes up a little bit in summer. But like right now, if you look on the board for CMEA, it's gonna be down in January here to 1475. And our costs have not gone down any. And you're talking about being in margins or...
28:41
The price of milk being within a dollar of a $13 a hundredweight that 10 years or eight years ago was tough floating for a lot of producers. So, I mean, just put that in perspective for you. mean, that's kind of the way the industry goes every now and again. Granted, you know, through time, we tend to get more milk and, you know, more diversifying, like with the beef cattle and everything else. But that just seems to kind of be the trend with that milk price.
29:10
Yeah, and the average consumer has no idea what it takes to raise dairy cows. They have no clue, the heart and the soul, number one, how much it costs to feed those critters, not to mention any care that they need, like veterinary care. Yeah. Yeah. Yes. And yeah, it's like I said, I think that, you know, I'm glad I started when I did.
29:39
Cause everyone when I started thought I was nuts. You remember you had a hard time finding? Wasn't the plants, certain plants? Yeah, was a hard time. It was hard to get into plants. know it's a lot of plants weren't taking, but I mean, it's, how do I word it? I'm glad I started when I did, cause you just eventually got to hop on the bandwagon and you know, it's gonna, it's a roller coaster just going up and down no matter what, no matter where you jump in on it. So when I started,
30:08
I was able to buy cows fairly reasonable. I'd buy cows from farmers that, you know, their barns are full and it was probably the bottom end of the herd, but I still took it home. I, you know, and with that beef market starting, I was able to breed some of them to beef and maybe kind of gave me time to breed my better ones to sex semen, which that helped a lot to grow the herd. Um, cause yeah, I mean, when I think about what I started with, I want to have now for cows.
30:35
and how I was able to do it in such a short time. And I think about how like my grandfather and my dad farmed and they always said it takes a lifetime to get a herd of cows. ah I feel like I'm my cows now. I know I don't have the best of the best by any means the word, but I feel like compared to when my dad and my grandpa's, you know, were done, I feel like I'm very competitive with what they had, you know, I feel and granted, you know, there's a lot of time lapse there, but
31:05
It took eight years instead of a lifetime. Just the genetics in these animals and the genomics is just, it's outstanding what has taken place in eight years that I've been doing it hard where I've been in the bar, melting cows. is just, it just floors me how we were able to produce these animals now and for health traits and everything. It's amazing. Yes. It's amazing how when nature and science come together for good, actual good things happen.
31:35
Yep. So for funsies, have a parting question. Do you have a favorite milk cow out of your herd? The one that melts the most. I like all lineback cows. I know Nick is, that's a, we don't have a lot of them, but I think they're so cute. No, I got an old cow that she was going with me. She was a calf when I started.
32:04
So she was born in that first batch, out of that first group of heifers I had when I started. So she's, she's what? I've been milking for probably eight, eight years. She's nine. She's no, well, she's eight years old. So she's on her sixth lactation. I don't know. I always really liked that cow. She never, never gives me no trouble. She's always there. Because she was there from the beginning. Yeah. Was she a calf when you got her or was she a cow? She cowed, her mom calved on the farm.
32:33
Okay. So she was a calf that I raised. One of the first ones. Uh know, when I started milking, milking cows. so eight years ago she was born, you know, so yeah. Don't hear. Yeah. 24 months later she had her first calf. So yeah, you got a couple of calves in the barn, but yeah, she's hopefully we get her bread and she can have one more at least. And I lied. That wasn't my last question. Cause I meant to ask you this earlier. Sorry about that.
33:01
I don't know what the laws are in Wisconsin for raw milk. So what are the laws in Wisconsin for raw, not pasteurized milk?
33:12
My understanding, it's illegal. it? Yeah. You can't. Yeah. You can't. In Wisconsin, at least. I know I've heard some states, they're way more lenient. I think Minnesota just passed a lot. Is that correct? I feel like it wasn't Minnesota. Somebody just joined the raw milk. There was some legislature, legislature, the legislation that just went through. And there's a handful of states that have passed it. But.
33:41
think it might come to Wisconsin. Um, I've been doing a little research on it and I think, you know, there's a lot more to that than people really seem to look into. Like your water gets tested and, um, a lot of other things that need to be done. But I think it's, could be a real good opportunity for some smaller producers down the road. yeah. Um, yeah, I hope something happens with it. really do. Yeah. Cause we did look into it, but yeah, the state of Wisconsin is harder.
34:10
for that, the raw milk. Does Wisconsin have the thing where you can sell raw milk only for pet consumption? That I do not know. I'm not sure on because we were looking at for farmers to sell. To sell to people. Yeah, I don't know. yeah, I kind of get scared when we start talking food and drug administration regulations, I guess.
34:35
You know, I just try to ask anyone who's in the industry because it is different in almost every state. Yeah. There is a handful of states. I know that just passed it because I remember reading some article, but, um, feel like there's a lot more of a demand for it too. Now for people who want that as well, but it's just not as easy to get it because of those regulations. Yeah. The law here in Minnesota is that the farmers can sell raw milk out of their tanks.
35:04
as long as the person buying it comes to the farm where the cow lives and where the cow was milked and where the tank is. And I'm not positive, but I think I could be wrong. I feel like the law is that the consumer has to bring their own container, but I could be wrong. Like I said, I did not look in it that deep. mean, it is something that I think will eventually
35:34
just like everything will kind of pass, especially with all this stuff going on in West Chase of Nile with regenerative agriculture and everything else. think we're, it's an incredible time to really be doing this. There's gonna be a lot of changes in the next 10 years, I think, on these smaller farms, probably towards this. So I think it's gonna be interesting to see.
35:56
Yeah, I'm all for it because I absolutely love love raw milk, but I can't afford it right now in Minnesota. It costs too much and I want to be able to pay it, but I just can't. Yeah. How much is it in there over there? The last I looked, it was over $10. I want to say for a half gallon, but it could have been a gallon. don't remember. No, I, yeah, I, there was a podcast I listened to about it. Shera pointed me towards it.
36:26
Yeah. And there was a guy, a gentleman owned in California who started it and explained it. yeah, it is, it, could really do a lot of good for the industry if something like that would come ahead. And it just, to the testing that will be involved in it. Once they figure that out, and I think a couple more states do it and they have it for a while. I think that it's going to be an easier thing to get past probably in states like Wisconsin. But yeah.
36:56
Yeah, the best thing about raw milk is that you can make cheese from it. If you try to make cheese with pasteurized whole milk from the store, it doesn't usually turn out the way you want it to. No, no. And the thing is with, uh you know, with raw milk, it separates. So I know a lot of people like to use that cream for many different things that you can just do at home with.
37:22
Yeah, the cream from the unpasteurized milk is fabulous in coffee. It makes it into this decadent dessert drink, not just coffee. Yep, I believe it. So yeah, I will be a happy girl when I can go to the regular grocery store and buy unpasteurized milk and know that it's fine. That'll be a great day. Maybe I will live long enough to see it. We'll see what happens. All right, guys, this has been
37:51
Fabulous. Thank you for taking the time to talk with me. Where can people find you? We're on TikTok, Facebook and YouTube, day by day dairy. Fantastic. As always, you can find me at atinyhomesteadpodcast.com. If you want to support the podcast, you can go to atinyhomestead.com slash support and just started a new
38:16
podcast with the lady I was talking about and that podcast is Grit and Grace in the Heartland Women in Agriculture. uh You guys, I know you're busy. Thank you so much for your time. I really appreciate it. No, of course. Thanks for inviting us. All right. Thank you. You have a great day. You too.